To Walk as a Titan
by Dynnzel
Summary: Arcee meets the strangest Autobot she's ever met, and she's met some colorful characters over the years.
1. Chapter 1

**Literally just a one shot because I had cats on the brain and I was relaxing. Also, I missed my Beast Wars era after such a let down with the 'Beast Hunters' portion of TFP. So blame the plot bunnies. Hope you enjoy! **

It was actually a quiet evening on the base for once, no alarms going off, no attacks happening, the kids had fallen asleep so Bee and Bulkhead had offered to take them all home. The only sound on base at this point were the vents and the whine of Ratchet's computers as he analyzed data. Arcee took this moment of peace to just stroll through the halls with no purpose or destination. Moments like these were rare and she welcomed them, the more she allowed the ghosts to rest in her mind the easier it was to accept peace when the universe offered it to them on occasion. It was also nice to be able to stroll instead of roll, as much patience she had for sitting curbside for hours, it was just nice to just be able to get up and walk around without someone freaking out. That was reason number four hundred and sixty-eight she missed Cybertron: being able to walk around and not get looked at like you were an abomination upon mankind.

Smokescreen was actually sitting in the relic room with a holocube she hadn't seen before in their records, it must've been a personal one. Despite being such a screw up in the beginning, the young bot was a quick study and seemed to truly care about the team and their goals. Arcee had thought his enthusiasm before had been misplaced, but then she thought perhaps she'd been fighting too long and had forgotten what it was like to actually be excited for something. Optimus seemed to be having quiet discussion with Ultra Magnus outside near his ship while the old stiff fixed something on his ship's landing gear. Wheeljack was probably out for a drive. The bases troops had finished their last rounds of fitness and had turned in for the night, it didn't seem like any night training would be happening either.

Arcee found that being on the base, although provided them with a little more freedom to roam around in their biped forms since no non contracted persons were allowed on this base. The humans still skirted around them cautiously and didn't speak to them. The femme heaved a sigh before returning back inside. Ratchet had several screens open, monitoring several signatures across the globe, some known Decepticon mines while others were ones they would check out to see if it was a viable energon source.

The medibot realized he was being watched and glanced over his shoulder, "Something on your mind, Arcee?" he asked, with the silence he was actually in quite a good mood.

"Nothing, just pondering how you became so good at stuff other than your medical practice."

"You can't just adapt your form to the war Arcee, you have to adapt your mind as well." Ratchet closed a few windows and adjusted his calculations in a few others, "I'll admit I'm not the best at this sort of stuff like my friend Perceptor."

"Your mediocrity on the subject has kept us in the running though, I'd say you're good enough." Arcee leaned against the console as she spoke.

Ratchet's expression softened just a bit, "Thank you, that means a lot." one of his screens blinked and he opened it wider, it was the continent the humans called Africa. Here at least two mines were opened up in the remote areas and weren't being mined, but guarded by the Decepticons until they dried up one of their other mines, hence freeing up those drills for the next load. Ratchet glowered at something in the numbers.

"What's wrong?"

"I think it's a glitch in the system, it's been there for a while."

"Glitch as in….?" Arcee waved her hand for him to continue.

"Well, the data is saying that something is generating a signal, something possibly cybertronian but it's so faint. I haven't given it much thought with the past few years being this exciting."

"Is it an artifact, or a bone?"

"No, can't tell if it's Autobot or Decepticon either, it's full of a lot of broken information." Ratchet huffed and waved the screen aside.

"Why not let me scout it out?" Arcee asked.

"Scout out a junk signal? It might just be a piece of Lazerbeak or a Vehicon that got dumped there in a skirmish."

"It's obviously not that, otherwise you wouldn't have the concerned face you have on right now." Arcee folded her arms, "Look it's too quiet around here, I'd like to get a good run in and from where that signal originated it's a pretty empty part of the world except animals right?"

"Near one of the potential mines as well."

"And it's not active so there are most likely only six guarding it at a time. Please they won't even notice I was there." Ratchet frowned at the two wheeler's smug expression. Her skills were not misplaced but he was always hesitant to send anyone alone, even one as capable as Arcee.

Ratchet grunted in reluctance, the signal had been bothering for some time, "Alright, but keep it to recon, I need to be able to call you back in case anything happens."

"Of course! Thanks Ratchet!" Arcee exclaimed as he punched in the coordinates for the ground bridge.

On the other side of the world the sun was just beginning to rise, the air was still chilled and dew slid down the blades of grass. Massive rain clouds growled in the distance, retreating from their attack on the landscape. Arcee's audio receptors were immediately hit with an abundance of sounds quite foreign to her. Well, a few were familiar from the kids watching nature documentaries. Bugs buzzed loudly in the trees while birds called to each other, animals slinked through the sparse trees and slinked through the grass, having been started by the big blast of energy the bridge had created. Arcee took a moment to climb a nearby tree that would've been sturdy enough to hold Bulkhead. To the north were mountains, between her and them was a massive grassland and eventually to the south the forest became thick. She could see what she was sure were elephants grazing near a watering hole. The TV didn't give the animals justice, they were huge for flesh creatures.

Blue was just beginning to touch the sky, so Arcee accessed the satellite imagery of the current area and was pleased to find it so remote the nearest proper town was at least a five hours drive. She did a pre emptive scan of the area just to make sure where exactly the Decepticons were and was puzzled to find the readings a bit inconclusive, this interested Arcee but didn't make her nervous, she knew where the energon deposits were so the Cons weren't likely to stray far.

The femme turned her attention to the faint signal that Ratchet had been tracking. The interference must've been in the upper atmosphere since she actually had quite a good signal on the ground. Arcee slid down the tree and landed lightly, sending a few deer like creature scattering in fright.

As the Autobot tread through the giant landscape, mud clung to her feet in the more sloppy areas, a flock of fat looking birds started following her making an awful lot of racket.

"Go away!" Arcee attempted to scare them off but they were stubborn and tried to crowd around her legs. She huffed in annoyance and decided to just keep going and eventually the birds seemed satisfied that the threat was out of their area. It was about this time that the signal suddenly vanished. Puzzled, she adjusted some settings on the scanner but it just wouldn't pick it up again. It did say where the last strongest burst was so Arcee decided to do good old fashion searching. Slipping quietly through the now heavier brush, Arcee suddenly realized how quiet all the animals had become. Even the bugs seemed nervous.

Eventually the ground began to slope downward, indicating to Arcee that she was near one of the Decepticon mines, she hoped they were too lazy to patrol today so she could keep her promise to Ratchet about keeping it recon.

Luckily for her the Vehicons announced themselves by knocking over a tree when one of the two tripped over the other.

"Get up you big lug nut! Did you see where it went?" Vehicon number one snarled at his partner who was busy spitting curses and mud out of his face.

"No I didn't! Just keep looking." Vehicon number two grumbled as he stood up, picking leaves and twigs out of his joints.

Arcee remained under her cover of branches and leaves, hoping it was enough to cover her blatantly unnatural color.

"Fraggin' thing was so fast, wouldn't have caught it stealing if it hadn't have knocked over the clips."

"Think it's a new Autobot invention?"

"With four legs? Maybe it's a Predacon that just didn't die." Number two ripped up a boulder, sending a family of pigs squealing and running for their lives. He huffed in annoyance and kept on looking.

Now that would be interesting, an ancient Predacon that had been here since the veins of dark energon had cooled and receded into the rock. A creature Arcee was less inclined to meet if it had the violent reputation the Predaking had.

Something shot low through the grass behind the Vehicons who jumped and primed their weapons but the shadow was gone. Arcee felt a twinge of realization that whatever these guys were hunting shared the same shadows she was using. She quickly glanced around to see if she could slip away without being seen.

There between some trees was a possibility, it circled around to some boulders where she could kick it into high gear and leave, she simply had to make it across a very open small gap. Simple enough, Arcee waited until they both turned their backs before she made a dash for it.

Unfortunately luck was not on Arcee's side today as at the same time one of the evicted pigs ran across the same space and she ended up accidentally kicking it. The Vehicons whirled around and fired at Arcee who made a break for it.

She almost made it to the cover when a couple explosions from heavy rounds erupted above her and all she heard was the sound of groaning wood and then something solid cracked her head.

Sound immediately became muted, her vision blurred and all at once she hit the ground dazed. Blackness threatened to engulf her in waves. Arcee rolled over, trying to bring herself back around but even trying to put forth the strength to get up was too much effort. A couple of large shadows approached her, perhaps laughing in glee. Arcee wasn't sure how long they stood over her gloating but it seemed like forever, glowing drops of energon trickled down her face where her helmet had been damaged.

The shadows blurred across her field of view, seeming to be fast yet too slow, the ground needed to stop tilting Arcee gripped the ground, afraid she would slide down into the earth itself. It was then that a third shadow joined them, significantly smaller but it attacked with such ferocity that it caused the two Vehicons to scatter in fright. Keeping track of the flight made Arcee want to purge her tank so despite her instincts to get back up she just closed her eyes.

The screams tore through her darkness, something… growled? at one point, the scuffling of feet and fire power filled her senses. All Arcee could do at this point was hug the ground so she wouldn't go anywhere. The battle seemed to go on for eternity and at one point or another Arcee dumped what energon was left in her tank.

Silence.

The battle was over but who was the victor? Arcee needed to know but she was losing the battle to the darkness. The last thing she could remember was seeing a shadow approach then kneel next to her, energon dripping down their form.

000

Time stretched itself across Arcee's consciousness, memories painful and pleasant, new and old flickered through her tired mind. These were intermingled with small pictures of light, perhaps of the daylight, trees and then darkness. There was a voice that was rather comfortable to listen to, when the femme heard it she latched onto it, trying to pull herself up and out of her trauma. At one point she thought she saw Ratchet and reached out to hold his hand, she didn't want to pass to the Allspark alone.

At last, the world stopped spinning and the darkness receded in place of a thundering head ache. Arcee tried to get her bearings but it was like she had a hangover from a boatload of high grade but without the party. She reached up to touch her helmet and found it cracked, however she also felt that someone had attempted to weld it shut. The femme managed to push aside the pain to at least open her optics and look at her surroundings.

Well it at least wasn't a Decepticon holding cell. It also wasn't the med bay back at base like she'd hoped. It was the remains of a ship that had burned out and crash landed. Moonlight streamed through holes all across what had been the roof. Stones, dust and grass were taking over the majority of the missing floor. Shattered consoles and destroyed equipment were simply being absorbed by the earth. The only thing that seemed to be working albeit patched up was an energon convertor tucked safely in the far corner surrounded by opened supply containers, mostly objects used to repair things, out of date and had seen better days.

Despite wanting to vomit again, Arcee forced herself to a sitting position. Her systems finally finished their diagnosis, telling her that she'd been out for at least ten hours, she'd received no further injuries but the bad news was that several systems including communications had been knocked out, although not beyond her own body's repair system. It would just take another few days at this rate. Arcee found one of the few reflective pieces from the ship to examine the damage. A long pale crooked line went from almost her eye to the back of her head, it had been shut to stop the bleeding.

"Not Ratchet standard, but a lot better than I expected." Arcee sighed. The femme held to the side of the ship where a massive boulder had all but crushed one half of the control seats. She knelt next to the convertor and saw that it was almost complete in its cycle. Raw energon slowly turning into an digestible form.

With difficulty, Arcee stood up and despite her body's protest tried to walk toward what looked like an entrance partially covered by brush. This didn't work out so well as the ground was uneven and she was forced back to her knees again. Darkness greeted her several times and by the time she managed to get herself under control again the moon's rays had been replaced by an orange glow.

"Oh come on…" Arcee growled before she attempted to pull herself up again. This time she made it to the opening. She brushed aside the thorny bush that left nasty scratches in her paint, not that she cared for it aesthetically much.

The light outside was still very weak as the sun had not risen, animals of the night were making their final calls and the bugs were taking to the air. The horned sentinels of the day were beginning to stir. In the distance amidst the grass, Arcee caught a shape she was familiar with but in a much smaller form. One was resting on their side while the other sat on its hunches, both were watching the sun rise. The only reason Arcee had spotted them was because one had moved to lick their shoulder. The predators were cheetahs if Arcee's memory served her well.

Arcee ignored them and tried to pull herself out of the hole, but her limbs were a bit numb and the ground beneath her had decided to sway again. A few rocks went tumbling down the small hill.

The sounds caught the cats attention, the one laying down jumped to its feet and arched its back, hissing. Again Arcee ignored them since they were of no threat to her. The cat stomped on the ground and hissed again but when Arcee glared back the animal decided to retreat back into the shadows of the sparse woods. The other, larger one however remained, just watching her.

Weakness overtook her which forced her to pause, Arcee looked up again to see the cat still there, "Go away." she growled. Instead it got up and began trotting toward her.

"Ugh… you can't eat me cat." Arcee snapped. It was then that she realized this cheetah was a lot bigger and thicker than what she'd seen in the vids. It got right up to her and looked her right in the optics and it was then that Arcee saw that its eyes were a very bright blue, a hint of light emanating just behind the irises.

She arched a brow ridge, "What-? Hey!" she protested when the big animal grabbed her by winglet in its teeth and with surprising strength, dragged her back inside the broken down inside the ship.

"Ow ow!" Arcee tried to dislodge her captor but instead her body tried to heave again but she had nothing to spit out. When her head stopped swimming again, this time mercifully quicker than before she found herself back on the makeshift bed while the cat had gone to the equipment corner.

Arcee watched in fascination as this strange creature dislodged the energon canister and rolled it with his nose toward her. She stopped it from smacking into her leg, the cat sat on its hunches and looked at her, looking expectant.

"…Ok…" slowly she twisted the cap off the canister and took a few cautious sips before her low energy meeter encouraged her to drink at least half of it before she had to rest. The cat made a funny sound… purring perhaps? And looked very pleased. Arcee tried to get up again but stopped when the purring turned into a low growl and the creature laid its ears back.

Arcee set the energon down and leaned back, "Alright… um there needs to be some answers here because…. you just don't make sense." she pointed at him. He simply tilted his head and looked offended.

"Can you at least speak?"

It shook its head.

"Really? Interesting. Well you're Cybertronian of some type or you wouldn't have this." she tapped the energon, "You crashed here… quite a while ago… you haven't tried to kill me yet so you're not a Predacon or a Decepticon." the cat looked suddenly eager at where she was going with this, "So… you're an Autobot." The cheetah's eyes lit up as he spun in a circle and placed a paw on her hand for just a moment before backing off, his tail swishing in excitement.

Arcee still wasn't sure to make of this, what Cybertronian would pick an organic form to copy they were just not suited to them.

"So if you're an Autobot, why haven't you contacted us?" Arcee held up her hand before he could 'respond', "Never mind, it's not like you can tell me."

The cat snorted then turned but as he turned there was the distinct sound of several gears clicking, the 'skin' seemed to unfold itself and curve around the Autobot's armored sets. The cat 'stood up', its body gave off the appearance of lean and muscular, any metal that did appear was tinged gold with some black spots. Despite this everything about the design seemed to flow together organically.

The bot stood about her height but knelt so they could look optic to optic, "Sorry, I can't speak in THAT form… but I can in this one." he gave her a toothy grin, which looked strange to Arcee since he actually still had teeth.

"My name is Cheetor, I used to be a maintenance bot, turned scout. I followed Optimus Prime's call to get here." he looked around, his ears drooping, "Obviously I… didn't quite make a clean landing." he perked up and leaned in close to her, "What's your name?"

"Arcee." she pushed him just a tad back, "So, why haven't you contacted anyone?" Cheetor turned his head to the left while pushing back fur to reveal a nasty multilayered wound similar to the one that Arcee had right now.

"Whoa…" she reached out and touched it out of reflex, the fur made it difficult to actually see all of the wound but she could feel many deep cracks across his helm, "Right over your personal communicator… that makes sense."

"Yeah." Cheetor twitched and looked around, hearing something Arcee didn't, he relaxed after a moment before turning back to her, "I was out for who knows how long, and when I wasn't struggling to survive I was competing with the local animals… they're quite big. I actually got hunted by the locals when I was making a trip to the energon cave and that's when I realized I really needed a form that would allow me to move around freely… and Nakeeta lives in this area so… I copied her form."

"Nakeeta?"

"Oh… the organic that was sitting with me before you scared her off. She'll be back… she's quite loving." Cheetor smiled, "But it's nice to finally be able to talk to someone… there were times I thought I'd landed on the wrong planet more than once." he suddenly went to a dark place in his memories but quickly returned back to the present. The Autobot leaned in toward her again, "You'll recover nicely though! Then you can call the others and we can get out of here!"

"Of course." Arcee pushed him back a little again, she was still trying to absorb the fact that he'd decided to take on an organic form, "They might come here themselves… I'm supposed to do a scheduled report in a few more hours. Wait, how come we never tracked your signal?" Arcee was suddenly reminded of Mixmaster.

"You saw how deep that wound was, my Autobot signal was corrupted as well as my ability to access to wireless functions, I don't know how to fix that I fixed broken energon ports on the Arc not Autobots on the operating table. You really think I wouldn't have tried?" Cheetor stood up and looked around again at something Arcee again couldn't hear.

"Sorry… there's just been, so many traps." Arcee felt her face heat up but logic and spark ache justified it, "So… you're the mystery signal our medic kept finding when scanning this area."

He faced her, "Probably, there's a lot of broken parts in me, I'm surprised I was able to take on this form." he looked down at his black metal claws. Cheetor perked up when he looked at her again, "Sorry, I have to take my alternate form or else those Decepticons will find me again, I can't control the output of my signal except in that form." he placed his hands on her shoulders, "Rest, I'll go make sure no one's snooping around other than the locals, maybe go get some more energon."

"Be careful!" Arcee exclaimed, a little more enthusiastically than she meant to. Cheetor smiled and made that purring sound.

"Always am, stayed alive the past three years didn't I?" he reverted to his sleek four footed form. He stretched his front then back legs, eyes shining whenever he looked at her. Before the strange Autobot left he rubbed up against her side, purring loudly before jumping gracefully over the rubble and out of the wreckage.

Arcee listened to Cheetor's foot falls till they melded with the silence. She looked around at the wreckage that had obviously been this Autobots home. The femme suddenly felt ashamed for her self pity about not being able to walk freely around the cities. Cheetor had had no one, she at least had someone at one point or another, even after Tailgate's death there had never been a great amount of time where she hadn't been near other Autobots. Yet here, Cheetor had managed to scrape by with injuries that would've killed him had the trauma gone just a little further, and nothing but the shell of his ship left.

The floor slid around again, a few warning windows popped up within her sight and out of reflex Arcee held onto whatever was closest. When the dizzy spell finally dissipated the femme leaned back and allowed the darkness to envelope her. There were worst ways to wake up after being knocked out by a tree. She'd just leave that part out when she reported back to Optimus.


	2. To Run with Gaia

**Ah yes, the plot bunnies kept nibbling at my brain, so I decided to add at least this chapter and the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy!**

Twelve hundred and seventy-seven turns of the sun wasn't that long in the grand scheme of things. However when you were alone in the world it was quite a significant amount of time. Cheetor had been excited to hear their leader's announcement to join him and other Autobots on the planet Earth. He'd been tasked to scout out the message despite the encryption, there had been too many traps laid by Decepticons. If there was one thing they were good at it was derailing trust among the Autobot ranks. Then slag hit the fan and Cheetor couldn't remember any of the first perhaps week or more he'd been on the planet. Even the weeks that followed were spotty at best.

A loud click brought Cheetor out of his reminiscing. The cicadas chirped loudly in the trees nearby and he sun shimmered off of the dusty ground. Cheetor got up from his place of rest and stretched all four limbs, it was one problem he found with the organic form he'd managed to adapt to from a two wheeler form, it needed to stay limber. His mechanical side helped keep it limber longer than natural but he kept the stretching habit up so that he wouldn't forget. He found his memory wasn't as good since the crash.

The big cat walked over to one of the only pieces of equipment he'd managed to repair which was a small energon convertor. Thank Primus he was handy with these sorts of things, otherwise the energon he'd found he'd have to consume raw which would make any Cybertronian a bit ill. Alive but ill.

Instead of transforming to his biped form though, Cheetor just popped the lid off (he'd gotten good at using his paws despite no opposable thumbs) and stuck his face into the half filled jar and lapped up the energy like a natural cat would lap up water. At first, Cheetor had found many of his organic form's habits quite irritating, but at the same time if he fought them too hard his form got itchy and very uncomfortable, he also got this sense of dread and aggression so if his form demanded a certain habit, he allowed it… somewhat.

He finished the energon and left his shell of a home that the local flora was taking over and began his daily patrol of what he'd decided was his territory. Which was a strange concept once he thought about it, and he'd thought about it many times. Trying to figure out what was his organic side and his Cybertronian had been quite the journey, and still continued to be.

Cheetor walked around the edge of the valley along the mountains, the easiest route to the energon caves he knew. He also could avoid the two legged locals, he'd tried to communicate with them but they'd reacted violently, so Cheetor had resulted to petty theft when he came upon more two legged organics that seemed to have more advanced materials but that got him on the bounty list. The materials he'd stolen hadn't been compatible with his equipment so yet again, he was stuck on a world he was unfamiliar with and as easy as it was to avoid the two legged organics, it was very tiresome to always be the enemy. He wondered if any Decepticons ever got tired of being the enemy.

As the Autobot trotted across the country side, clouds began to move in from the plains. Lightning boomed overhead causing the flocks of birds to take refuge. The predators of the land started their stalk as the rain began to thicken and turn the dust into mud. The horned animals began to hunch up and become less vigilant in the cold. Rain slipped off of Cheetor's fur as it wasn't keratin like the regular organics. Had he not been in an organic form for so long he would've found the mud and rain very irritating, but he'd grown to love it. It made hiding a lot easier that was for sure.

A loud thud shook the ground, causing Cheetor to jump and look around, blue optics wide with surprise. A few bulls took off running, bleating in fear. The Autobot's sensitive hearing picked up a distinct whine that he hadn't heard in years. The whine of a ship's engine.

Every instinct of his four footed form demanded he run but this time he ignored it and sprang forward, mud caking his paws and belly. A couple hyena's joined in his run but he quickly outpaced them. Cheetor had a rather amusing game with the other predators of the planes, they didn't like him obviously, but it didn't seem personal other than they wanted to keep their areas safe. So Cheetor would play cat and mouse with the hyenas, catch me if you can with the lions and with the leopard he just surprised it by showing it he could climb trees as well. Maybe not as well but he could. The two legged organics he simply avoided now a days, if they weren't trying to stick him with a spear they had long range weapons, some hitting with a force that rivaled having an arrow shaft stuck in your hide despite being so small.

Cheetor began slinking closer to the ground and keeping close to the long grass as it was his only cover till he reached the trees along the mountainside. He was close to the area where he got his own energon supply. The young autobot was about to cross the hill when a loud hiss caused the birds to scatter and the trees to moan in the wind. A large ship was lifting off the ground and into the sky. Cheetor had a mixture of excitement and dread pump into his system as it was a Decepticon ship. It might not be holding the kind of bots he wanted to see but the supplies it dropped off could be useful or he might even be able to commandeer one.

Slowly, Cheetor slipped through the shadows and at times in the opening, his spotted fur giving him the perfect camouflage so long as he didn't move. There it was, at least ten Vehicons gathering up their supplies to set up camp inside the energon cave. Their job was to survey the caves completely and have the plans ready for harvest when the main equipment came around. Cheetor found the site of actual Cybertronian shapes a bit surreal at first, like they were some far off dream. The words they spoke, although familiar were strange to process.

Cheetor would've processed this feeling further had he the time, he'd been in beast mode for so long he had to remember how to process things as an Autobot.

So there were ten that he could see, their equipment were most likely basic medical supplies, survey and potentially a back up radio somewhere in case of the unlikely scenario that all of them would be knocked out at once. Cheetor knew the initial cave system better than them, so he had that to his advantage. The big cat snuck around the entrance to a very small side one about a quarter mile away and slipped inside.

At first there was only stone and quarts, then the crystals began to have a blue tinge to them, then began to glow the further he went. As long as he wasn't actually seen, Cheetor was able to move about without being detected since his form was so made to have soft padding on his feet he practically made no sound.

As an after thought, Cheetor picked up a small crystal head of energon and put it away, it would last him a good while. After this he waited for the Vehicons to move away before examining the crates they'd dropped off. Out of habit he sniffed them first, the unnatural metal was an assault on his organic senses but his brain processed it as something he needed, but he couldn't open the case in his current form.

_Oh slag…._ the Autobot thought. When was the last time he'd transformed? The memory was actually quite fuzzy, perhaps he'd been working on repairing something. Cheetor jumped when he heard a squabble happen at the entrance of the cave.

_Alright Cheetor you got this… just…. remember. It's like breathing to organics._

His skin began to itch and a sense of horror filled his spark, there it was, that fear of his organic half that it was going to perish. Cheetor fought through the fear and finally reached what his organic self was trying to surpress. The cogs began to turn, click and shift into their new positions. Cheetor reared back on his hind legs and rolled his shoulders, helping the transformation along as it had not happened in so long. He stretched out his fingers, suddenly remember how much he missed having hands.

Working quickly, Cheetor hacked the digital lock, all of his skills as an Autobot scout suddenly coming back to him in a rush in this form. The disagreement was still going on at the front of the cave but a loud voice told him that it was about to be over.

In fact it was over right when the leader yelled because four of them came sprinting into the cave, weapons at the ready. Now Cheetor thought slag but it came out as a hiss between his teeth and his ears pinned back and his fire stood on end. This image startled the Vehicons long enough for Cheetor to turn tail and run back down into the cave.

Not giving up his main form just yet, the Autobot sprinted down the side entrance hall and leaped out, only just being missed by a few rounds shot by the Cons.

"Come on that all you got? Ah… *cough* there it is." Cheetor's voice box cracked at every single word, but it felt good to speak again. It felt good to remember where his blades were, his arm weapons, and to remember that his time as a Cybertronian wasn't a dream. These were him, Cheetor, Autobot scout and lost on this damn planet. He was thankful for the Decepticons arrival actually, helped him remember who and what he was.

Cheetor turned on the Vehicons, aimed and pelted two of them right in the face. One fell over the other and back into the cave. He cackled with glee that he still had it, or at least the luck to do it and took off for the woods.

"Right, hide and seek, my favorite game." Cheetor gave a cheeky grin. Even in this form he had greater speed than the four wheelers who were used to well paved areas even on Cybertron.

He slid down into a rocky gully, his feet sinking into the soft mud where a small creek was starting to form because of the rain. This was a horrible place to be, however if he could hold his ground…

Mud and rock exploded next to him which told him that was a no go. He scrambled downstream into some brush and up the other side of the bank just in time to avoid a rush of water from another part of the rain storm. The Vehicons jumped over the gap easily and continued their pursuit of the intruder.

The sun was beginning to rise in the distance and Cheetor was beginning to wonder why these Vehicons knew exactly where to find him each time. Then it occurred to him to run a diagnosis on himself, something he hadn't done in such a long time since his transformation. The long list of damages was not unfamiliar to him, then he found out why they were being so troublesome, his emergency beacon although corrupted was still emitting a signal in this form.

Cheetor heaved a huge breath, then reverted to his alt form and took off further into the forest. He heard the Vehicons suddenly skid to a halt, one slipping in the mud and cursing all that was good in the world. Cheetor had to resist the huge urge to just sit and scratch all the seams of what the nanobytes had sewn together of his camouflage. He was on the hunt now, an urge he'd seldom indulged since he had no need to consume other organic flesh. He needed a better running ground, the trees were too thick here. So he allowed his pursuers to see him momentarily before running off. The energon in his system pulsed hot with anticipation, he needed to sink his teeth into them at this point.

Once he led them to a spot more suited to his tastes, Cheetor hunkered down into the grass and waited for them to turn their backs on him. His claws dug deep into the less sloppy earth, feeling the vibrations of the titans footfalls, his ears pinned back, tail twitching ever so slightly with excitement. Eyes burning with concentration, a hint of amber ringing around the outside of his irises.

It was at this point that he caught a new scent. The Vehicons smelled bitter and oily, where as this one smelt, what he could only describe as sweet. This threw him off for a moment, then h saw movement on the other side of the clearing. A loud squeal pierced the air just as the figure tripped over something but kept running. Everything happened in slow motion. The Vehicons turned to see what it was and fired upon it. Their aim was poor but lucky and they dropped the crown of a large tree on the runner. At the same time Cheetor dug into the ground and launched forward. Within two strides his jaws clamped down on Vehicon number two and crushed his spinal support between his teeth. Both of them went tumbling down the small hill but Cheetor regained his composer faster than number one did. He sprinted forward and knocked the Vehicon's legs as he went by.

The snarling Decepticon stumbled backward but caught himself. He whirled around and fired randomly but Cheetor dodged easily, now in his two legged form he brandished his arm blades, a classic weapon for most two wheelers. He popped one of them out and swung, cutting the end of his enemy's weapon off rendering it useless. Then he snarled in the Vehicon's face causing him to fall back onto his aft.

"W-what are you?" the grunt asked, shivering in the mud.

"Well… that is a good question isn't it." Cheetor said as he tossed his free blade a few times in his hand before strolling up to the Decepticon.

Energon splattered across the mud, the cool blue mixing with grainy brown. Cheetor saw his reflection in a nearby puddle and saw that he had energon spilling from his mouth all the way down his chest. The Autobot reached up to his face and wiped some of it away but the energon on his clawed hand just smudged it further. His hand was shaking ever so slightly from the excitement.

The sound of the grass shaking suddenly brought Cheetor back to the present. He sheathed his weapons and walked cautiously over to where he saw the runner, the scent of sweet metal touching his nose again.

Trembling in the grass clinging to the ground as if they were going to fall into the sky was a blue femme Autobot. She had energon leaking heavily down her slightly cracked helm and the lights of her optics were flickering in and out and she didn't seem aware that he was close by. Cheetor almost couldn't believe what was before him, after all these years and now finally someone had shown up. He wanted to feel angry but her injuries pushed him past that.

Once he found his feet again, the humanoid like cat went over and examined the femme. He had a basic kit back at his lair but he couldn't carry her in his four footed form, so he took the chance of being found with his damaged emergency beacon still bleeping on someone's monitors out there and picked the femme up and raced back to his ship.

Energon dripped all over the floor as he set the femme down where he would normally sleep. Then he dug through his tattered containers of supplies and found his soldering tool which he'd used to fix himself several times over the years. It wasn't exactly something a medibot would be proud of but it wasn't like he had a choice.

Cheetor knelt next to the femme who was muttering something and rolling around in agony. His scanners weren't as fine tuned as a medibots either, but the head wound didn't look like it would cause her much harm in the long run.

"Sorry! Whoever you are!" He pushed her arms together and basically laid down on top of her while holding her head still with his free hand and the tool in the other. The femme whimpered and tried to struggle against him as sparks started to fly. To his blessing half way through the repair she passed out and he could work without fear of damaging her further.

Heaving a heavy sigh of relief, Cheetor shifted off of the femme and took stock of his situation. Energon had dripped all over the place, that he would clean up while he kept an optic on the femme. She was still shaking slightly, which made Cheetor feel a bit guilty perhaps he could've attacked sooner. No, if she hadn't moved they wouldn't have turned around and he would've remained hidden. It had been a costly distraction.

"N-no…."

Cheetor stopped his work and looked back at the femme, her optics were partially opened and she was reaching out. He quickly took her hand in his, an ache in his spark emerging so suddenly that it caught him off guard. The beast bot's ears drooped and his optics softened as he watched the femme fight through her pain. Cheetor cleaned the energon off of her sleek but beat up frame, all the while she wouldn't let go of his hand and he didn't let go of hers.

The young mech found himself watching her a lot longer than he meant to. So he pried her fingers from his and stood up. He was still filthy and waiting for the energon to slough off would take too long, Cheetor suddenly felt self concious despite the other Autobot being unconscious. So he reverted to his cheetah form and trotted over to the nearby creek.

His image caused him to hesitate at the water's edge. Cheetor decided he looked so strange, all fuzzy and dark yellow. What self respecting two wheeler walked around on four limbs? The mech growled at his reflection and slapped it with his paw before entering the water.

From time to time Cheetor checked on his new charge, she'd finally stopped shaking and was sleeping as peacefully as she could with such head trauma. Cheetor paced around his home, occasionally going off to check out strange sounds, or just sitting and standing up to turn in a circle and sit back down again.

Eventually he was joined by the resident cheetah, one he assumed was called a female since in the years he'd known her she'd given birth to copies of herself. Nakeeta, he called her, some alien name he'd learned long ago when he was still among the stars. The significantly smaller cheetah greeted him with loud purring and lots of head rubs, she even went as far as grooming him for a few minutes. Cheetor never cared for this ritual she seemed to love to do but if he didn't let her do it… well he had a few scars to prove her mood about the topic. Nakeeta lay down next to him and rolled onto her back, purring and meowing.

Watching her behavior he realized now what this spark ache was, he'd been lonely for company. Somebot that would have a friendly conversation, joke, laugh, even fight alongside with. He craved that connection that he couldn't get even with a friendly local like Nakeeta. She did what she needed to survive, nothing more.

What if when this Cybertronian woke up she rejected him just because he'd taken on an organic form to survive? Cheetor remembered all the snide remarks they would make about these squishy forms.

Nakeeta pawed at him gently, demanding attention.

Then again all these squishy animals had survived for millions of years through extinctions, extreme climates. They weren't hardy like Cybertronians, but they had their own traits to admire. Still, he hoped his form didn't scare the femme, that wouldn't be a good first impression. Cheetor lay down next to Nakeeta and allowed her to lay her head over the back of his neck.

It was almost dark when his guest actually succeeded in staying awake. Nakeeta jumped to her feet and hissed at the stranger. Even went as far as jumping at the femme to try and scare her, but the other's icy glare was much more intimidating to the simple creature. Cheetor found the stand off quite amusing but couldn't sit still for long, the femme wasn't ready to move yet.

Cheetor stood over her awkwardly a moment not sure how to get her back inside. He remembered watching Nakeeta carry her cubs around by the scruff of the neck but an Autobot had no such thing. So Cheetor just grabbed a winglet between his teeth and dragged her back inside. He didn't wait for her to recover, just went to the energon converter and popped it out of its station as he'd always done. He offered it to the femme who, hesitantly accepted the energon.

A bubble of excitement rose within his spark chamber as she seemed to relax just a bit, she didn't seem horrified by him…. yet.

The femme settled, then looked at him, analyzing every detail. He could actually see the gears of her optics move. She asked if he could speak and he opened his mouth but it just came out as a funny meow so he just shook his head. His skin was starting to itch again, he wasn't sure why this time.

She mentioned Cybertronian, a good start, he'd crashed here… well duh. He wasn't trying to kill her so a Predacon (whatever that was) and a Decepticon he was not. Cheetor couldn't help but get excited, hearing actual words from another machine. When she said Autobot Cheetor jumped in glee, almost going up to her face and licking her but he withheld that happy instinct from his fellow organic form.

The subject of communication came up and at this point, despite the protest of his organic half, Cheetor knew he couldn't keep having this one sided conversation. So the proper introduction began, her name was Arcee. Such a pretty name to his audio receptors. She still seemed a bit uncomfortable around him though. Cheetor couldn't blame her, he did look very strange. He just fiddled with his claws and eye contact was a bit strained on his part. It didn't help that he was now acutely aware of which instincts of the cat he'd allowed to weasel their way into his habit stream. Like personal space, the cats didn't have personal space if there were no hard feelings. Even his cat, loners though they were when they met family or a potential mate personal space didn't really exist. He started to think personal space was invited by intelligent beings.

Cheetor placed his hands on her shoulders, "Rest, I'll go make sure no one's snooping around other than the locals, maybe go get some more energon."

"Be careful!"

He turned back, hearing genuine concern in her voice. A bubble of happiness that Cheetor had forgotten existed during his time here swelled up in his spark, "Always am, stayed alive the past three years didn't I?" he reverted to his four footed form and indulged the urge to rub up against her side despite her surprise at this behavior, he couldn't help but purr at how happy he felt before he took off into the darkness. Cheetor was so happy that she actually cared despite him being a four legged furry weirdo, that the prospect of being rescued and having more Autobots judge his appearance didn't bother him for the moment. Boy she smelled good too. Cheetor took a moment to slam on his breaks and smack his head with enough gusto that his head rattled.

'Stop that Cheetor that's kind of weird.' Sure his organic half enjoyed scentsy stuff but, it was just weird! Cheetor had forgotten he'd had this conversation with himself about two years ago. There had just not been any bot around for him to become self concious about the habit. The cat had certainly… not enhanced but adjusted his smell sensors to notice completely different things than before.

Alright back to the situation at hand, he had to keep Arcee out of trouble till her squad mates came running to save her. As well as make sure she didn't try anything dumb to further her injuries. She seemed like the highly independent type that could get herself out of any situation.

When Cheetor returned with a few more crystals of energon from a smaller stache located away from the Decepticon base, Arcee was asleep again. He placed the crystals on the convertor to start another batch. He'd taken a sniff around the Cons area and they didn't seem very enthusiastic about going out on the African plaines at night, especially after they'd found their comrades torn to shreds. Cheetor took a moment to remember the hunt, it was truly a mixture of acceptance on both parts of himself, the Cybertronian warrior and the organic predator. He'd never actually had a chance until now to actually test his abilities. The combination was actually quite frightening, what Cybertronian ripped his opponents heads off with his teeth?

Cheetor tried to slid the container into place his his paws shook and the lid dropped to the floor with a clatter. He stared at it for a while, only looking up when Nakeeta jumped onto the roof of his dilapidated home. Amber eyes peeking through the holes at him through the moonlight. She'd gone for an evening hunt before the sun disappeared completely, blood staining her face and paws. She was completely at peace with the violence of her nature. Yet it seemed to Cheetor that that was more acceptable, despite the fact that the Autobots and the Decepticons were fighting for survival, they ultimately had the choice in how the acted and reacted to each other. Yet old wounds just simply would and could not go away. His missions before had had violence, yet blasters were pretty clean. Burning holes into your opponents armor and seizing up the systems before the bot knew what hit them. Nakeeta lay down and began licking herself clean, a few loose drops of blood slipping and hitting Cheetor on the face. A deep low growl entered his throat as he rubbed it away with his paw. He was still shaking, the days events catching up to him. The images of the ripped up Decepticons causing him to lose face.

The young Autobot walked over to where Arcee slept and lay close to her, ignoring the personal space rule. He simply didn't want to feel alone as his mind spun horrors arounds the events of the day. Cheetor tried to focus on the good that come from it, he had a new friend, one that could get them both out of this place. Even get him medical attention there were so many things that weren't repaired or were only partially repaired through his body's natural repair function. He'd relied so heavily on the cat over the years, it was time to get back to where he belonged.

Cheetor's skin itched and crawled, a sense of dread seeping into his dreams.


	3. To Face the Pack pt1

**Wellll… I kept on writing so I had to split this chapter into two, maybe three parts because there's so many aspects I wanna cover! o-0 I'm having way too much fun with this lol! Hope y'all enjoy it with me! I promise the chapters will not have this kinda brooding feeling the whole time. :) **

An electric buzz tickled the edge of Arcee's consciousness. At first she ignored it since she still had a pounding headache. The buzz came back a few more times before she finally realized that it was someone trying to reach her communicator but since it was still busted she couldn't hear.

"Slag…" Arcee stumbled onto her feet, "Cheetor?" the Autobot was no where to be seen. Ignoring the sharp pain in her head when she moved, Arcee moved toward the entrance being lit up by the early morning sun. This time she actually made it outside the entrance without wanting to vomit. She took her moment of rest to survey the landscape, it was mostly grass, some trees, a river and rolling hills as far as the optic could see. The sun was radiant as it climbed over the mountains. Most of the rain had moved on and the previous day's warmth had dried all but the most shady places.

Movement caught her attention and she she was surprised that in plain sight the cats had been sitting right in front of her. The smaller cheetah, what was her name Nakeeta? She was swatting at Cheetor for some reason. The bigger cat sat up and bore his teeth with a hiss. Nakeeta however responded by running around him, poking him again, then started to lick the top of his head. Arcee raised an eye ridge at this behavior. Cheetor didn't appear to appreciate the attention though, his ears were flattened and he had this look of resigned acceptance.

"Cheetor?"

The beast bot opened his eyes looking surprised, he quickly got up essentially knocking a surprised Nakeeta over as he ran over to Arcee. His ears were drooped and he couldn't make eye contact at first. His organic friend watched them, but didn't approach or hiss at Arcee, just sat down and pretended to clean her shoulder like the big blue thing didn't scare her.

Arcee did her best to hide the smile just underneath, "Well, I think my team is trying to contact me, but I can't get a good signal. They'll show up where Ratchet last dropped me off, think you can get us there?" the cat gave a firm nod, "Good… let's just-whoa." Arcee felt weakness rack her body. Cheetor suddenly transformed and caught by the arm.

"You need help." the bot laced their arms together, "And if there's any fighting… let me do it. We don't need another tree falling on your head." he grinned.

"No… no we would not." Arcee accepted his help to walk, "I have the grids plotted, just need your help getting there."

The two began their journey, Nakeeta watched them, she paced back and forth for a bit before deciding to follow them at a distance. She didn't like how Cheetor stood, but his scent was still familiar.

As they walked, Arcee noticed at how the animals watched them but didn't really back down. They were either very familiar with Cheetor's presence or they simply were not afraid, or just aggressive enough to be brave? The yellow bot didn't seemed aware of them but unafraid. He'd been able to walk among the giants of the African plains and they hadn't turned him away in fright. How nice that must be.

"So…"

Cheetor looked at her, one ear tilted down while the other remained erect.

"What's it like?"

"Being this cat?"

"Yeah, I mean obviously you don't have wheels or anything…"

"Oh… well. It's itchy and uncomfortable sometimes, and you get weird habits forming…"he shrugged off the subject.

_Slightly weird habits that's for sure._ "Do you remember much of the crash?"

"Ha… no not really, I just remember a lot of heat and pain, might've been on fire at one point. However I must've landed in the rainy season so at least I didn't melt together that would've been horrible. Then I just remember waking up who knows how long later, starving for energon." his eyes grew distant for a moment, "Nothing was working, not my comms, not my ship, not my equipment. I stumbled on the energon by chance… I fell down a ditch." Cheetor chuckled, "But I didn't have anything to process it so I had to eat it raw… blegh… don't do that you're tank will ache for days."

"It's not like you had a choice… you were desperate!" Arcee felt her respect growing for this survivor. All the times she demanded to be alone, she was simply asking for destruction. She wasn't sure why but that suddenly seemed very selfish. Cheetor simply smiled at her and adjusted his hold on her arm when she tripped over a stone.

"I swear I'm more graceful than this." Arcee sighed.

"You look graceful I'm sure the head injury isn't doing you justice." Cheetor suddenly looked embarrassed, "I mean you just seem well designed… I mean… yeah… I'll shut up now." he looked away, huffing heavily. Arcee couldn't help but laugh out loud at his awkwardness. Poor fellow hadn't had a soul to talk to in years and he was tripping over himself to do it.

They came across a gully that was flooded, a few zebras snorted at their presence and moved to a more private area. Before Arcee could question how they would cross it Cheetor picked her up and with a running start jumped over the raging torrent. Well that answered that question.

"Such a gentlebot." Arcee teased. This caused his ears to droop and he looked at the ground for a moment. It was interesting to see how serene the bot seemed, Arcee had seen bots come back from being stranded on hostile organic worlds and basically have to be restrained for the rest of their lives. It seemed like Cheetor had managed to hold onto himself quite well.

There was a funny chirp in the air which made Cheetor perk up instantly and they both looked back across the river to see Nakeeta pacing back and forth. However the female cat didn't wait, she ran up one side and disappeared into the trees.

"Will she be fine?"

"Yeah… she knows these areas better than I do, if she wants to keep following us she will."

Arcee couldn't help but notice a slight tinge of sadness in Cheetor's eyes, like he was letting go of something precious.

They were almost to the check point but Arcee had to rest since another wave of sickness hit her hard. She sat leaning against a tree that overlooked a small valley. Just on the other side would be where the portal would open when Arcee didn't report back in a certain amount of time. Arcee swatted at a huge bug that seemed fascinated with how shiney her armor was. This just made her concious on just how damaged her paint job actually was, this time in Africa hadn't helped it any since every plant here decided it was a fantastic idea to have thorns. She glanced over at her new companion who'd taken on his beast mode and was laying not too far away. His organic form didn't appear to have any scratches or scars, although it showed how well it hid them since he showed her his own head injury. Arcee wondered just exactly what else he'd gone through to get to this point.

Cheetor turned and saw her watching him.

"I think you'll like our team." she said to save herself from staring.

He tilted his head, looking curious.

"Well, I think you'll get along great with Bumblebee and Smokescreen, even Bulkhead. They are the fun bots in the group, I'm too bitter to have fun anymore." Arcee chuckled a bit coldly. This earned an odd chirp from Cheetor, who walked over and placed a paw on her knee as if to say that is no that is not the case or maybe she was completely misinterpreting everything. Arcee just smiled, appreciating the thought. She watched him suddenly turn his head and scrunch up his face, she'd only seen that face on the feral cat that lived around Jack's house. He was smelling something.

Cheetor jumped onto a felled tree nearby, testing the air further before he suddenly crouched and growled. Fur along his spine standing on end.

"Decepticons? How did they find us?" Arcee moved herself just out of site of the valley before peeking out where Cheetor was looking. The cat was suddenly at her side, placing a paw on her shoulder and pointing down the valley where the portal was to open soon. Then he pointed at himself and pointed at the other end of the valley where the threat was.

"What? No no Cheetor you're coming with me you should be the first through the portal!" Arcee in turn received a growl, which she only glared back at him. They stared at each other for a good minute or two before Arcee realized she was leaning heavily to one side because of her equilibrium being off. Cheetor huffed at her and pointed back the way she needed to go.

"Alright… but I'll have them keep the portal open till you arrive. Just hurry!" this earned her a very loud purr and a gentle head butt on her forehead before Cheetor sprinted off through the grass, eventually melding into the landscape.

Once he vanished, Arcee carefully slid down the hill. Without Cheetor there to support her walking was much more of a chore than she cared for it to be. Each step felt like she was going to swing heavily to one side even though in reality she actually wasn't. With this much trouble just from a light head wound, Arcee was having trouble figuring out how Cheetor managed with his own. Light suddenly spilled into the valley as a space bridge opened up, almost at the same time she heard an eruption of yelling and blaster fire behind her. Arcee hesitated at the entrance, glancing back to see what was happening but the trees obscured her view.

"Arcee!"

She turned to see Wheeljack running down the tunnel along with Bumblebee.

The mechanic took a hold of her arm, "Come on there's Decepticons in the area."

"Ah! Easy there! We have to wait!" Arcee almost fell over when Wheeljack yanked at her, this was when he realized she had that nasty crack across her helm and held her a bit more carefully.

'For what?' Bee beeped and squeaked. He brandished his weapon when a Vehicon came flying out of the woods bleeding all down one side but at the same time a familiar slender form popped out of the grass and hissed at him, causing him to scream and run the other way.

"Cheetor?"

Amber eyes looked upon her.

"Nakeeta…"

The animal turned and vanished into the grass once more.

"Let's go, Arcee."

"No! Wait!" Arcee protested but the bigger bot dragged her easily through the ground bridge. The wild plains vanished at one side of the tunnel and the familiar site of the base began to form.

"Ratchet! She's injured badly!" Wheeljack refused to let go of the struggling Arcee even when she threatened to hack all over the floor. She couldn't let them shut the bridge off, Cheetor had suffered enough the past three years she wasn't going to allow him to suffer any longer.

"Get her over here, Raphael can you get the chamber ready just in case." Ratchet said as he reached for the lever.

"Don't!" Arcee screamed, which caused him to pause.

"Oh for Primus sake!" Wheeljack reached over and slammed the lever down himself. The bridge began to collapse from Africa back through the dimensional rifts.

"No you idiot! I was waiting for someone!" Arcee held onto Wheeljack both because she was both angry and about to fall.

_BLEEP!_

Bumblebee nearly shoved Ratchet over in an attempt to get away from something and that's when everyone saw the heavily panting form of a giant cat laying down at the entrance of the ground bridge. Not only was he overheated but he was covered in energon, most of it dripping from his claws and teeth.

"Cheetor!" Arcee felt relief sweep over her but it was only temporary, everyone was so startled that weapons were brandished and all optics told of aggression. Wheeljack kept himself between Arcee and the cat.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Was this thing hunting you Arcee?" Ratchet demanded.

"No no no! He's a friend!"

"Whoa!" Miko exclaimed, all the children as well as June and Agent Fowler entered the chamber when they'd heard the ruckus. Cheetor saw them and did something Arcee wasn't ready for.

His hackles raised and his eyes turned into a mixture of amber and blue, he trembled with pure rage as he bore his teeth and let off a snarl that sent chills even through Wheeljack who'd faced off with the Predaking.

Bumblebee was the first to react to the hostile intruder by swinging, knocking the cat back against the wall. The crazed animal bot responded by twisting in the air, landing all four paws on the wall and launching himself at his attacker.

"Kids get out of the way!" June yelled as the ground bridge room became a battle ground.

"Bumblebee!" Raphael called but the bot was too busy.

Arcee was pulled back by Ratchet as Wheeljack went to join the fray, the cat proved way too fast even for Bumblebee. Panic gripped Arcee as she knew they would kill Cheetor if she didn't get the situation under control. Something drastic would have to be done.

She ripped herself away from Ratchet forcing herself to remain steady on her feet, "ENOUGH!" she pointed her blaster in between her friends and fired. The explosion startled everyone into backing down. Cheetor made a sound between a growl and a whimper as he backed into a corner, keeping Bumblebee and Wheeljack within his sights.

"Cheetor! Calm down!"

"You know this monster?" Wheeljack exclaimed.

Bumblebee let out several beeps and squeaks in protest as Arcee stepped forward but she glared him down.

"Yes, and he needs our help not our aggression." she ignored Bee's protests as he pointed out his torn up arm where Cheetor had managed to latch onto him. Despite the animal looking delicate to the machine's optic the material of the claws was definitely metal. Arcee tried to get close to Cheetor but he growled at her, eyes still a mixture of colors. So she knelt down where he felt comfortable having her.

"Cheetor… Cheetor look at me. At me! Not at them." he finally stopped twitching and pacing, meeting her optics, "No one's going to hurt you here, Cheetor, we hope you won't hurt us either." Arcee said firmly. She was trying to not think of the consequences if she couldn't calm the cat bot down. The femme certainly did not want to have to choose between an ally and her new human family.

"No promises on the hurting." Wheeljack scoffed.

"Shh! You're not helping." Arcee made a movement that said put all your weapons down, which they did reluctantly. She looked back at Cheetor who was crouched low, as if ready to spring. His growl was softer, he seemed more scared than angry now. They met with their optics again.

"Come on Cheetor, stand up." Arcee held her slender hand out to him. He seemed unsure, fidgeting again like he was very uncomfortable. The odd yellow colors seemed to be refusing to leave his eyes. Arcee took on a firmer voice, "Cheetor! Put the cat aside and transform!" Cheetor tossed his head about while closing his eyes, growling deep in his throat as he fought something in his thoughts.

The sound of clicking gears and whirring components finally filled Arcee's audio receptors and the others collectively gasped as the monster they so labeled reached out to Arcee in his biped form and she helped him upright. Cheetor shook in fear, or was it shame as he stood close to her, partially hiding his face from the rest of the Autobots.

"By the Allspark…" Ratchet moved closer very slowly, checking Cheetor's reaction to his approach. Eventually he was almost right next to the two small bots. Arcee's hand almost hurt from how tightly Cheetor was holding her. She tried to soothe him by lacing their arms together like before and placing her other hand on his shoulder. He seemed a bit confused by her action but she just smiled, "This is Ratchet, he's our M.O." his shaking seemed to lessen just a bit. The cat was so focused on Arcee that he didn't see Ratchet move. His body seized up as a wave of energy surged through his systems and he slumped to the floor.

"Ratchet!" Arcee growled.

"He's just asleep, calm down!" Ratchet rubbed his helm trying to think through all of his medical studies on what to do, "Ugh… Wheeljack, get this… get Cheetor to the C.R. chamber, Arcee I'll treat you first." he saw the adult humans checking through a door to see what was happening, "Agent Fowler, if you'd please be so kind as to keep all human personnel out of this area for the time being." Arcee saw that she was no longer in control of the situation, but at least they weren't trying to kill Cheetor anymore.

Ratchet refused to have anyone say anything for the next few hours unless it was to further medical reasons. He gave Arcee a scan to make sure there were no internal cracks and with no further wounds, he gave her some medicinal energon for her pain so she wouldn't be wobbling around. He examined the work done to close up her wound.

"How did you manage this?" he asked.

"I didn't… Cheetor knew some basic care." was all she said, "Least, that's what he said when I woke up." Ratchet didn't say anything, she half expected him to curse the horrible quality but instead he just left it alone. He didn't say anything when Wheeljack came up to him and handed him a data pad of initial scans from the chamber. The medibot left them to start his work.

"You sure know how to pick 'em." Wheeljack said when they were alone.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Arcee slid off the medical berth carefully, testing the medicine buzzing through her systems.

"Friends to bring home. Not only does he seem to hate humans, he's willing to attack his own kind." he wasn't intimidated by her icy glare.

"He's not evil, otherwise why would he have saved me."

"To get where all the other Autobots are? It's not like this is the first time good looks and fuzzy conversation has gotten into a base." Wheeljack referred to his clone that had found them first. Arcee sighed heavily and rubbed her face before turning away from the wrecker.

"He's not evil, he's just… been through a lot."

"We've all been through a lot… well… except Smokescreen."

"Wheeljack?"

"What?"

"Stop it."

"Stop what? The truth? Last I checked you're the one who was the best at spouting the truth, I think I still hear Smoke moping about your speech to him once in a while. Now if you could acknowledge the truth about that freaky Cybertronian I know your head wasn't that rattled.

A hot spear of anger shot through her spark, "He's only a freak because we never bothered to investigate a crashed Autobot ship in the past four years!" this caused Wheeljack to take a step back from her hostility, "He did what he needed to do to survive! If anyone's at fault for his condition it's us because we never found him!"

Wheeljack's optics narrowed, "You're treating a total stranger like he was one of your long lost partners."

"Just because we shared a night together doesn't mean you're allowed to treat me like I'm made of glass."

"I'm not treating you like glass I'm trying to make sure you remember all the betrayals we've had! You can't just let one smile get your guard down!"

They both stood in silence, neither not sure what to say next. Luckily the silence was broken by June who'd remained after packing all of the fussy children up and sending them home, she said that Ratchet wanted Arcee to see what he'd found.

Leaving without another word to the wrecker, Arcee answered the call and soon found herself where the C.R. chambers were placed, Agent Fowler and June joined them as well. Ratchet was leaned over his console examining some numbers, face stern with concentration. Arcee walked right past him and up to the cylinder where Cheetor slept, the scanners swooping by in a rhythmic manner.

She placed a hand on the glass, "That odd code you kept fretting over, Ratchet?"

He looked up at her.

"That was him, whenever he transformed into his biped mode his emergency beacon would sound off… it was just corrupted." His expression didn't change, he simply looked back down at his data. Arcee wasn't sure to feel frustrated or feel nothing at his lack of response.

After a few minutes June stepped forward, "Why did you need us here, Ratchet?"

"I need your expertise on something."

"What could we do to help?" Fowler asked, he looked at the sleeping Autobot and adjusted his tie even though it didn't need adjusting.

"This Autobot, is exhibiting a type of body that is not fully Cybertronian, it's like a virus is fighting with his systems."

"So?" June pressed.

Ratchet simply expanded the window to a large holographic 4D image for the humans and Arcee to were many parts of Cheetor that were peppered with many lights that took form for better analyzing. Where armored plating should've been was a flexible nanyte layer held any outside interference at bay. Arcee recognized the transforming cog and the bits that a two wheeler should have and of course the spark chamber, but the rest didn't make sense to her.

"Whoa…" June stepped forward and touched the image, to zoom in around the head and chest area, "It's like his body has adapted to an organic form, these are supposed to be blood vessels. I mean I'm no veterinarian but it's set up like his spark is the heart pumping the energon around his body." she zoomed in further to see what Raphael had shown her on his laptop before since he'd become Ratchet's assistant, "It looks like a… jumbled mess though, like it's trying to be Cybertronian and organic at the same time." Ratchet glanced at Arcee who walked closer to the group.

She felt her spark go cold at some of the lights, "So, if he's replicating organic flesh… then what's those? Scars?" she pointed to the head where many lighter colored lights that didn't seem natural were.

"Gotta be… looked like he was cracked pretty bad… shouldn't this wound kill a bot, Ratchet?" Agent Fowler asked.

"It should've, but luck was on this bot's side."

Agent Fowler moved the image a bit, "Whoa… this cluster here… those are bullet wounds."

"What?" Arcee glowered.

The male human took an overall look at the cat bot's body, "High caliber hunting rifle," _hunters looking for the beautiful coat of the big spotted cat_, "looks like he got his leg caught in a poacher's trap," _howls of pain causes animals to scatter as this newcomer learns the hostility of the world around him_, "although it must've been for an elephant or lion because I don't think your guys' bones crack that easily. " he examined the hologram further, "It looks like the nanytes are mimicking maybe a lot of bruising around here?" he looked at June for confirmation, " "Someone must've had a noose around his neck or something and dragged him down, these are… maybe spear wounds. This bot must've frightened a village or something I seen this wound from one of my troupes getting into trouble with the local tribesmen." _an entire village on the hunt after some of their livestock had been killed. They kill all of the predators they can get a hold of, one of them a giant cheetah with blue eyes. It doesn't die after the first blow to the head so they start kicking and stabbing at the creature who would not bleed red blood._ "The .22's look like more surface wounds, the rifle rounds.. looked like he tried to dig out the ones he could reach."_ in biped form Cheetor shook as he fashioned something to be tweezers, energon spilling down his form from the wounds. He stuck the home made object into his skin trying to dig out the bullets before he bled to death._

Arcee felt a shiver shake her joints as she imagined how Cheetor must've felt being at the end of all this hostility.

"No Autobot would remain close to humans, not on purpose. He had severe head trauma, his memory would be spotty at best for… perhaps a year or more." Ratchet leaned against his console and looked at the sleeping bot, "He is… lucky… I stress extremely lucky to have survived that crash. All these wounds explains his fear of humans… but don't animals prefer to run rather than fight?"

"Not if they feel cornered, plus traumatic memories, if severe enough can trigger reactions that the subject can't always control." said June.

"Hmm." Ratchet turned back to the console and accessed some more layers of the scan, "Despite mimicking flesh, it's quite a sturdy weave the nanytes have established, he could take a blaster shot directly and not be that damaged." he moved on to the Autobot's brain which gave him a more serious face, "The temperature here is almost too high, like he's sick."

"Can Cybertronians get sick?" June asked.

"If it's a digital based virus yes, there were plenty made during the war."

"I don't think Cheetor has a virus per se." Arcee said, thinking back to all of his weird twitches as an animal, "I think… and correct me if I'm wrong… he's fighting the form he took on."

"Fighting his form?"

"Think about it, we scan other objects to take the form on to blend in. But all of the forms up until this point have been from inanimate objects or ones we've developed on our own."

Fowler rubbed his chin, "So you're saying he's fighting the DNA that nature intended for the cheetah."

"Exactly."

Ratchet processed this new theory, "It's possible, we'll have to do further studies, but for now… we'll keep him asleep as I repair everything I can."

"Everything you can?" Arcee asked.

"His entire interior is not standard to your kind anymore, I have to be careful of what I cut through or he might go into shock… or what his organic side thinks it should go into shock for." he placed a hand on her shoulder, "You go and rest, check on Bumblebee as well he seemed very upset. Optimus, Ultra Magnus and Smokescreen should be back soon as well. June, Agent Fowler, if you could continue to help me that would be appreciated." With the doctor's orders given, Arcee gave one more look toward Cheetor before leaving. Even asleep he seemed to have a fear about him, his muscles tense as if ready to attack.

The hallways which had seemed peaceful but dull before, now seemed too long and dark to walk alone.

'Hey, Arcee!'

It was a text from Jack. Well, looks like her concussion was healing up rapidly with the doctor's work.

'Are you ok? Tht thing didn't seem friendly.'

_He is friendly._

'Right.'

_His name is Cheetor, give him a break._

'So long as he doesnt decide to eat me I can.' Jack rolled over on his bed and huffed.

Arcee sighed and found Bumblebee sitting in the main loading area, she knelt next to him and examined his arm. He whooed tentatively at her, his expression soft and concerned more for her it seemed.

"I'm fine, just worried." his systems had stopped the bleeding, nothing a little soldering and buffing couldn't make good as new.

_'About what?'_

"Just… everything right now." her thoughts imagined Cheetor truly alone on Earth, yet with friends just a ground bridge away. The more she thought about him turning on the humans that they'd sworn to protect simply because they were ignorant of his good intentions. It made her tank turn. She sat down and just stared at the floor.

After a moment she felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked at Bee, his mouth may have been covered but his optics were smiling. Friendship, a comfort Cheetor had been denied for a long time. Something she tried to deny herself for a while, something she learned just wasn't possible to avoid if you still had a spark that cared about others. With the hanger doors open Arcee saw Wheeljack outside messing with some supply crates not looking for anything in particular.

Now if only she could get them all to be friends that would make life a lot easier.


	4. To Face the Pack pt2

**Woo part 2! I think I'll most likely stop the story after the next chapter, a final encounter if you will. Because I don't have anymore thoughts after the next encounter. **

**Hope you enjoy!**

He kept seeing himself getting trampled over by humans and robots alike. There was blood splattered against the rock that wasn't just energon, but the dark red of the organics as well. Bullets and other primitive weapons alike sang through the air causing his skin to crawl and fur to stand on end, while his hydraulics and muscles quivered with fear and excitement. The pounding of feet caused him to turn but too late, his back feet were swept out from under him. Cheetor turned onto his back out of instinct lashing out with all four paws and bearing his teeth. The attacker was not deterred and in the classic cheetah fashion clamped his teeth around his prey's hroat. Cheetor didn't have lungs per se but he did have energon vessels that were now being cut off. The bot kicked and slashed at the other cat drawing blood but to no avail. It wasn't until he finally sliced the cat's cut open with his claws as he transformed did the animal back off.

Cheetor scrambled backward as did his opponent, holding his throat that was bleeding far more than he wanted them to. He looked for his attacker that was pacing a circle around him. The big yet sleek cheetah panted, but his mouth was closed, signally he still meant business. Cheetor saw light colored brown eyes but the markings on the face were very familiar. Unlike other cheetahs he had almost straight curves for the fur touching his eyes then curving around his muzzle. Blood dripped slowly onto the ground, it became less and less as the wound on the cat closed up with alarming speed. It turned with teeth bared and hackles raised, leaping toward the Autobot.

Energy pulsed with frightening speed as Cheetor pulled himself out of stasis, the snarl still ringing in his ears as he tried to get his bearings. When he first tried to move his body sang with pain and he immediately was subdued into remaining still. He took a moment to cycle air through his systems, or in an organics eyes, take a long calming breath. It was dark, perhaps it was still night? Or the next night even. The sound of a rhythmic hum circled around him, he also became highly aware that he was chained to the device he was in. Cheetor was about to panic when he recalled, as if a distant dream what he'd done before he'd passed out. His fellow Autobots had been startled by his presence and his bad memories with the two legged organics hadn't helped his first impression at all.

The feline bot opened his eyes and glanced around, he'd only been inside one of these before, a CR chamber. Cheetor glanced down where the pain was and was a bit horrified to see a long precise slice from his side almost all the way to his shoulder. Whatever had happened his healing systems adapted alongside the cheetah's version had already closed the wound quickly and nanytes were already replacing the missing fur. His diagnosis screen flew up to his eyes and he was pleased to see that all of his functionalities as a Cybertronian had been restored. If he'd even had the ability to access the humans world wide web he would've been able to at least find all the little sitings that the indigenous people took of his fellow Autobots.

Surfing the web would have to wait, Cheetor was currently more concerned about the fact that he was restrained. He hoped he could persuade them that he wasn't a monster. At least, he remembered that was a word thrown out there when he was first noticed.

Heavy feet shuffled around outside the chamber, so someone was around but obviously not in a hurry. Cheetor could feel the electronic pulses of the other living being through his long forgotten scanner. He'd had dulled senses for what seemed like forever that all of this electronic aid almost overwhelmed his senses. Not only did he have electrons and other energies tell him information but he could feel the rumble of all the activity outside through his skin, feet and ears. Cheetor had to dial back some settings so that he wasn't getting too distracted by one or the other.

His restlessness finally was noticed by the bot on the outside and light flooded the chamber as a privacy button somewhere was pressed to remove the opaque color from the glass. Cheetor turned away from the light for a moment till his sight adjusted and he saw who was standing outside. It was the one Arcee had called… what was his name… Ratchet? Yeah that was it, the medic.

The larger Autobot knelt next to the door to examine Cheetor with his optics first, then opened the chamber up. Cheetor couldn't help but shrink back a little.

"Easy, Cheetor, I'm not going to hurt you." Ratchet assured him as he expertly pulled the bot's face forward by the chin so he could look into his optics closer with a light. Satisfied he let go of his patient, "How are you feeling?"

"Um… ok I guess." _Terrified._

"I managed to reengage all of your damaged systems, it seemed like your organic body rejected a lot of the robotic pieces so didn't finish repairing them, as June would say… treated them like the appendix of a human." he examined the incision he'd made.

"Ok… " he didn't know what a June, human or an appendix was but he would get to that, "How long have I been out?"

"Three days at least, had you on an energon drip most of the time but you are quite the healer. I had to venture into a whole new kind of medicine for your surgeries."

"What do you mean? I'm all the same on the inside ain't I?"

"Not exactly, you have all the same parts essentially but you scanning another living being has significantly changed the design of them." the doctor stood up, scanning Cheetor's face with his optics, "Why don't you tell me about your job before you crashed, were you alone in your ship?"

Cheetor clenched his teeth as he felt something pinch, "Um… I was a scout, also aaaaa…. apprentice to one of the scientists from the Ark when I wasn't repairing the ship." he took a breath when the pinching feeling finally stopped and he looked down to see Ratchet had removed a few stitches where the cut had been the deepest. Luckily the nanytes had finished their repair work.

"A well rounded young bot I see, could use more of that around here." Ratchet finally stood up and gave Cheetor one more look over.

"More like, undermanned and with no choice. You're… not scared of me?" Cheetor asked.

Ratchet seemed surprised by this, "Why should I be scared of you?"

"Because… I'm like this?"

"Ah, well, it's not my job as a doctor to judge you unworthy of medical attention just because you're a bit stranger than the next bot. I took an oath, and a lot of risks bringing you back. Arcee speaks highly of you for only knowing you a few days and that femme bot does not give out compliments easily." he folded his arms, "My only concern is your reaction to the humans."

"Humans?"

"The two legged organics that startled you in the ground bridge room. Those are our friends and allies, as well as everyone on this base."

Cheetor arched an eye ridge, "There's nice ones?"

"Yes, there is nice ones, and until I'm certain you're not going to… snap… you'll remain under guard or restraint. Your form is… too predatory to leave you alone."

"It's not like I've eaten any organic flesh… had this been an open field I would've run the other way." the prospect of being a prisoner with his own allies made his skin crawl and sadness made his spark cold.

"It's not just my professional opinion, it's also the orders of Prime himself. He must keep the humans safe, they are after all, the species on this planet that Megatron threatens the most with his schemes." Ratchet ended on a note that had finality on it. Cheetor huffed, his fur standing a little in his frustration. He actually felt a bit sick, so many emotions running through his systems at the moment. Relief, pain, anger, excitement, disappointment. The minibot decided it wasn't best to kick a gift bot in the mouth. He could still be out there, void of any company except Nakeeta, he wondered how she was doing. Probably chasing baby animals to eat. Forgetting him already…

Ratchet wasn't as harsh in Cheetor's restraints as the cat bot thought he would be. Currently the humans weren't in the compound so he allowed the cat bot to at least sit without being restrained, but within his sight at all times. He said that the other Autobots were out on a mission as well so it was just them. Cheetor took this time to catch up on the civil war. The news was to say the least, a bit disheartening. Soon though, Cheetor hoped to be allowed to work with the team against Megatron. He'd been sitting idly on this planet for too long. Despite this, Cheetor decided he liked Ratchet. The medic was realistic even if it hurt, the truth hurt over less time than a lie. Despite Cheetor's condition, he didn't approach it as judgmental but rather curious, fascinated at what the Cybertronian's body had achieved under severe damage and lack of energon.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, the Predacon that's been running around shows the diversity our bodies can take on." Ratchet said, tinkering with a broken park at his desk.

"Arcee mentioned this Predacon… what is it?" Cheetor suddenly tensed then slammed his hand down on a bolt that went rolling toward him causing all of the other bits to jump and Ratchet to look at him oddly. He cleared his audio processor and handed the bolt back to the doctor as he silently cursed the cat.

"A baby in the grand scheme of things, but a fast learner and not one you'd want to tango with."

"Tango?"

"Oh… I mean fight with. Shockwave attempted to create a whole fleet of them but… I think Predaking's performance on the battlefield and desire to be a leader of his fellows… intimidated Megatron just a little bit."

"So what happened?"

"Tricked us into destroying the other developing Predacons… now Predaking's out for our sparks." Ratchet said almost nonchalantly. This medic had seen way too much to be bothered by this kind of news, they had after all, been fighting a very long time.

Cheetor began pacing the room after a time, the light was already slanting through the windows turning orange. His skin crawled as he thought of large open spaces, laying down next to tree and just watching the sun set. A sense of longing grew painfully in his spark. He couldn't just sit inside, these concrete and steel walls that rattled with the wind and prevented him from seeing forever into the horizon.

Ratchet watched the Autobot closely, the poor fellow seemed nervous all around the longer he had nothing to do. He paced quickly back and forth, once in a while a soft growl would escape his throat. The doctor was going to show Cheetor how to use some of their systems but he got a call from Optimus that they were ready to come home. Nothing significant to report. That was always a good day to Ratchet, less him stressing over his ever breaking patients and dwindling supplies. Cheetor perked up at the news of other Autobots, or perhaps his excitement was to hide his nervousness.

The medibot put aside the data he was going over, "You can stay here in the bay if you don't think you can handle a big crowd."

Cheetor swallowed up the shuddering his body seemed to want to do, "I'll be fine, might as well get it over with right?"

"Not always, but if you think you're up to it." Ratchet led the way.

Meeting the rest of the squad was the absolute last thing Cheetor wanted to do, but he could feel it, there were two streams of thought going on in his head. One was to run away, being alone was safe, you wouldn't get crushed or threatened by these giants, the other kept telling the other voice to calm down, that these were allies and wouldn't crush him. The closer they got to the bridge room the louder voice number one grew. Cheetor stopped just behind Ratchet as he pulled all of the controls and set them, bringing the ground bridge alive. The whirring sounds of light and time caused Cheetor's fur to stand on end a little. The urge to run was tremendous at this point.

Then the familiar color he'd come to love came streaking through the bridge, the bike transformed once she got inside and Arcee stretched her struts. Her face lightened up when she saw him, "Cheetor! Up on your feet!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah…" he said a bit shyly, "Nice wheels by the way, maybe when I'm fully functional you can take me to find one myself!" he wasn't sure why he didn't feel as excited about the prospect as he should've.

"Sounds like a great idea!" Arcee smiled, touching his arm momentarily.

Just at the end of her sentence a rather large hulking green mech plodded on through, followed by the one he believed was the one he'd attacked first thing. Then came the red, green and white one. Cheetor lost his nerve a bit when the big blue and the big red Autobots stepped through the portal. He recognized Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime, although the big bot must've gotten some upgrades since he last saw him. The beast bot's ears lay back and his tail twitched to match his mood.

"Awww look the kitty cat is awake." said big green.

Yellow just made a funny low beeping sound but Cheetor got the idea that he was displeased.

"Aw come on just because he's faster on his feet than you." chuckled a yellow and blue mech.

"Easy, you guys." Arcee said firmly.

The Autobots made way for Optimus to walk forward. Oh boy he was a lot bigger than Cheetor remembered, or had he gotten smaller? He couldn't help but take a few steps back and stare at the floor. The bot couldn't help but let a tiny growl slip in frustration, he used to be so disciplined, he could stand and take the worst verbal punishment from the leadership but here Optimus hadn't said a thing and he was already planning his getaway.

Optimus seemed to realize this, so actually knelt down so that he was at the minibot's level and held out his hand, "Welcome, Cheetor, I'm glad we found you. Although I wish it had been sooner, so you wouldn't have had to suffer alone."

The beast bot perked a little, but his ears were still back. He stepped forward and shook Optimus' hand, "Slag happens." was all he could say. A bit of the tension was relieved and he didn't feel quite as ready to run. Introductions were made, for Bulkhead, who seemed strong but soft in his demeanor. Smokescreen who greeted Cheetor with a vigorous handshake, not seeming to be bothered at all by the situation.

Bumblebee took a bit of convincing though. The cat could see where repairs had been done to his armor, anymore shredding and Cheetor would've gotten to his vulnerable protoform metal and done a lot of serious damage. However after a bit of chat, Bumblebee finally shook Cheetor's hand, beeping something along the lines of 'it's cool, let's just not repeat the experience'.

Then it was Wheeljack's turn to greet Cheetor, however he simply folded his arms and frowned at the beast bot. Cheetor's tail now twitched for a very different reason. He felt the cat's urge to chase off this intruder. The engineer still thought Cheetor was a monster, this was obvious. Actually no, he was the one who made it the most obvious. Cheetor could see out of the corner of his optics as reports were filed and minor wounds were checked. They all side glanced him, wondering why he'd taken on such a strange form.

It had been for survival.

Cheetor continued to stare back at Wheeljack till Ultra Magnus intervened and pulled Cheetor aside, mentioning something about getting a proper debrief done.

Later that evening Cheetor was allowed to sit outside since the base's activities had gone to sleep. Talking with the boss bots had taken an exhausting long time. His voice box actually hurt, at least Ratchet had paused on occasion. Cheetor hadn't spoken this much since before the crash.

He jumped when something glowing was held next to him. It turned out to be an energon flask and the bot offering was Smokescreen.

"Ah… thank you." Cheetor took the flask and out of habit sniffed it's contents before partaking. Energon used to smell like nothing to him, now it just smelled alluring. Drawing him in like the cat was drawn to prey.

Smokescreen nodded and smiled, "Have you chosen a new form yet?" he asked as he sat down next to the minibot.

"What?"

"You know, you gonna be a classic two wheeler or maybe one of those… what do humans call them… quads?" he plucked at Cheetor's mane, "Can't be like this forever, especially here… it's not exactly a native animal."

Cheetor couldn't help but swat the car's hand away rather sharply but he missed thankfully, "I don't know, Ratchet said I can't scan anything till my body's recovered from the surgery. With how much my body has adapted to the… the cat…. he said he's not sure what would happen."

"Hmmm you're body goes back to it's natural state and forgets the cat forever?"

"Is everything simple with you?"

"No, but I figure the process can't be that difficult to switch back and forth. I mean, you became the cat in the first place right?" Smokescreen's offer at hope seemed to make the cat uncomfortable, "Look, I'm pretty new to this group myself, but Ratchet has worked wonders out of nothing. Bumblebee's transforming cog was beyond repair and he fixed that. I'm sure he can help you get back to snuff and into a proper Autobot body."

"So that defines a proper alternate mode?" one ear went up and the other down, "It has to have wheels or jets?"

"Well…. uh…. " Smokescreen realized the hole he'd dug himself.

"What about Predaking? I saw his records earlier today, he's a natural form from Cybertronian matter, simply adapted to the creatures around him when wheels and jets weren't available."

"Yeah, you're right. I guess…" Smokescreen looked up, "Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as a jerk."

Cheetor's face relaxed and his ears returned to their regular positions, "I know I'm weird, but I've come to respect the animals of this planet, not that I don't miss racing along some nice smooth road ways with my wheels."

"Are you going to stay this way?"

The cat leaned back and stared up at the stars, "Hmm, I say one thing and the cat says another."

"The cat?"

"It's what i've started calling it." he sipped his energon, "For a very long time the cat dominated who I was, and for a while I'm sure I just let it. I was very alone and very scared, hurt. Letting the cat run who I was helped ease the pain."

Smokescreen wasn't sure he understood, but he didn't say anything, he didn't want to frag up this conversation anymore than he had. Cheetor didn't add that he now thought that the cat was kind of an alternate personality, having weaseled its way into his core processor. The high powered car looked up when someone approached and stood up, giving Cheetor a pat on the shoulder saying everything would work out one way or another.

Cheetor perked up when Arcee joined him on the steps, "How're ya holdin' up?" she asked.

"Well, I haven't tried to eat any of your squad mates and they haven't tried to kill me, so I think it's all going well."

"That's good." she sighed heavily, "If Wheeljack gives you any trouble… please let me know."

He withheld his aggressive remarks and instead said, "I understand his issues with me."

"That's not acceptable, you are an Autobot like us."

"Not exactly like you anymore." Cheetor smiled, "Besides, with so many betrayals and plots from the Decepticons you'd think his behavior was normal. I'm surprised the others accepted me as pleasantly as they did after… my episode."

"Ratchet told me you've been talking about Earth and the humans, what do you think of them?" Arcee asked. She wasn't accusatory, but there was an edge to her voice.

Cheetor leaned forward on his knees, fiddling with the flask, "I had bullets lodged into places I couldn't get to, Arcee, I'm not sure I can forgive them."

The femme hoped this wouldn't be a problem, "Why does it have to be all of the human's fault? It was hunters from a whole continent away, these humans are not hunters. You're blaming all of the humans like you expected all of us to be completely suspicious of you." he stood up suddenly and walked a short distance away from her, "Cheetor…"

"I just… I just can't…. I'm sorry." he slumped a bit, feeling ashamed that he wasn't able to overcome the past for the future. Arcee didn't say anything for a time, then he heard her get up and walk toward him. She tugged at his wrist for him to turn around.

"Look, I don't expect you to forget, but I hope someday you can forgive humanity for what it's done to you." she touched the place where Cheetor had managed to dig a bullet out himself, "Although the humans can be troublesome, we wouldn't be where we are today without them."

He turned her words over in his mind and looked out over the human base. They weren't present but he could smell them, pungent with sweat, sharpened by gunpowder. Scents that caused his fur to stand on end and his body to tense for action. Then he turned back to Arcee and her sweet and soothing aura made him forget all that. Being near all of the Autobots helped him feel less threatened now that he was certain all… or most of them weren't going to shun him completely.

"I can't make any promises, but you all seem to hold them dear to your sparks. I know Optimus Prime wouldn't defend a race that hadn't shown the qualities he holds dear."

"Optimus would defend anyone helpless, even if they were evil." Arcee quipped, "But I digress." she smiled, "I know it's hard, and thank you for trying." she recalled the time she'd had a chat with Miko on the mountain, it seemed like Cheetor was going to have a similar journey to make in his spark. Arcee recalled the rage she felt when her partners perished and then found out who'd done it. She'd almost forgotten unconditional compassion for a very long time, it was still easier said than done with her painful memories but it was those times she looked to Optimus as an example.

In the distance a coyote yapped at the moon, a snake slithered somewhere around the corner and a rat scampered past their feet. Cheetor looked up when a night hawk swooped under the lamps trying to get at the bugs that buzzed to the tune of their light.

"The pain never stopped while I was lost, did it?" Cheetor asked without executing an answer.

Arcee cast her optics to the big dark blue above them, "No, but it's whether you let it rule you is the next question. This experience I know with a lot more intimacy than I care to have."


	5. To Walk Beside the Beast

**I know there's some storyline inaccuracies to the actual plot on tv, but I thought whatevs. It's a fanfic. :) Enjoy!**

It turned out to be a bad idea to keep Cheetor locked up inside the hanger after a few days. So to keep him from becoming aggressive, Arcee would take Cheetor to the more remote parts of southern Nevada so that he could run in his beast mode. Ratchet found the requirement fascinating but he kept his theories to himself. He'd already found Cheetor nosing around his medical files which, although it was allowed Ratchet hadn't meant for him to find what he found. During the surgery Ratchet had had to remove a tremendous amount of rust that hadn't come from water or anything that could make them rust, it had come from organic blood. It suggested that during the times the times he had huge gaps in his memory, it was possible that his own theory of allowing the cat to rule his psychy had gone to extremes to keep itself alive. It fought the natural instinct its genetic code demanded, while learning what its Cybertronian side needed to live. Cheetor had simply looked at the data, closed it and walked away though. Perhaps in the back of his mind somewhere, he knew what all he'd done.

The ground was hard but slippery from dust, Arcee's wheel's couldn't get a lot of traction so she struggled to keep up with Cheetor. His top speed was less than that of a wheeled Autobot but the fact that he could dig his claws into the dirt and that he didn't have to worry about how flat the ground was meant he could practically fly ahead. He'd been doing good on his promise to at least try and accept the humans as not all evil, when in his robot form he could tolerate their presence but he kept his distance and didn't talk to them. His animal form however would have none of it, so the humans always had to announce themselves instead of just barging in, especially the children.

Arcee was forced to transform when Cheetor leaped over a few fallen spiny trees that had seen better days. She saw him glance over his shoulder, a hint of play in his eyes. On a dime he spun in the dirt and headed for a small jut of rocks in the middle of the flat lands. Arcee approved of this challenge and reverted back to her alternate mode, opting for a clearer route to the rocks. She remembered having another spat with Wheeljack about the amount of time she was spending with the newcomer, she chastised him for not accepting a rescued individual. When he tried to play the past card she cut off the conversation with an arrow of she'd learned from her poor choices. The other Autobots were making an effort to accept Cheetor, as well as he them, he was still very strange, but his personality was winning them over once it finally started to shine. The humans were still a touchy subject especially with Bumblebee and Bulkhead, but they'd decided one problem at a time. Cheetor's therapy came first, he'd spent a lot of time talking with Ratchet when Arcee wasn't around. The doctor had said he wasn't a specialist in psychology but he knew the basics, and could learn more. The sessions needed to happen since Cheetor was obviously having nightmares. Arcee had asked him if he'd had them before, but the cat simply said they'd gotten more real since he'd arrived at the Autobot base.

Arcee hit a flat patch of ground with no vegetation in her way and dust spit out behind her as she hit high gear. She shot past Cheetor who'd just hit his stride as well. There was another line of vegetation just before the unspoken finish line and Arcee was yet again forced to transform. She rolled several times before landing on her feet and was about to make the leap but the back of her knee was suddenly knocked forward, causing her weight to throw forward. The next pressure was on her back which forced her onto her stomach. As she ate dirt Cheetor flew over her and pranced up on top of the boulders. He looked back at her, panting heavily to cool off his systems, eyes shining.

"Oh don't look so cheeky." Arcee snorted, spitting out some dirt she'd eaten.

He transformed, "You shouldn't turn your back on me, that's when I know I will win." Cheetor said between breaths. The grin remained glued to his face as Arcee collected herself and joined him atop the rock.

"Had that been a road, I would've beat you."

"Sure, but all's fair in love and war." Cheetor chuckled, "If there's one thing this place has taught me, it's to be as ruthless as it, and it shall reward you."

Arcee chuckled, "That doesn't seem like a very Autobot thing to say."

"No, not for modern day sentients, so it's not a philosophy I stick to."

The landscape shimmered all around them, the sun doing its daily baking of the land. It was an unfriendly landscape, but Cheetor thought it soft compared to Africa. He thought he saw Nakeeta on occasion, but it would always evaporate when he blinked twice. At first Cheetor had been frustrated with the illusions, but now he'd just decided that it wasn't faulty to miss the closest thing you'd had as a friend on an alien planet.

"How are you feeling?"

He looked at her, "About what?"

"Joining us?"

"Happy of course, I was slowly losing my mind out there. Who knew how long before I just allowed myself to become the animal I'm impersonating." he drew a tiny circle in the dust with his clawed foot.

Arcee looked at a lonesome cloud hovering just by the mountains, "Odd question, but once you've fully recovered, do you think you'll be happy to leave the cat behind?" He hesitated and that was all the answer she needed, "It's ok."

"Ok what? To be a freak among friends?"

"You're not a freak, you're a Transformer. You've done what most bots were unwilling to do to survive, and you've embraced it. And now that you have us as an anchor, you're learning to live peacefully beside the beast."

He chuckled coldly, "Working on the peaceful bit, but thank you, Arcee. I appreciate it." his words were followed closely by him purring.

They returned to the base with no one seeing them. A few animal calls had already been made and the zoo's in Las Vegas had to check to make sure their cheetahs weren't missing. Cheetor made it a habit to enter the base in his biped form, he still couldn't quite control the fury of the big cat when it came to seeing humans. A good habit to be in, as Raphael and Jack were sitting at the desk next to Ratchet's computer and Miko was playing video games on the couch.

Jack set down his pencil when the bots rolled in, his eyes on Cheetor, "Hey… you guys have a good… run?"

"What happened to you Arcee? Did you trip and fall?" Miko asked.

"No." she side glanced Cheetor, "I was knocked down."

"What, why?" Jack asked.

"A friendly racing game, Jack. How's your homework coming along?" she diverted the conversation as she walked over, it seemed like Raphael was trying to help explain some Algebra with visual demonstrations.

Cheetor watched them closely, Arcee was very delicate in the way she handled the human children. Pulling back all of her piston pressure to gently push Jack's hand out of the way so she could see the equations. Raphael made a joke about Jack's inability to do simple math, while Jack tried to think of a retort.

"Hey."

He jumped a little, he hadn't heard Miko walk along the cat walk to where he'd been standing. The Autobot started to back away but Miko held out her hand, "It's ok, Cheetor. I ain't gonna hurt ya." Cheetor forced himself to stop, his spark racing against its chamber as his skin prickled with the urge to run. His eyes drifted from her hand to her face. A few flashes of those horrible nights of being hunted, his front leg being caught in a trap. Those faces had been wild with fright and greed, Miko's was soft and kind despite her tendency to rock out to screeching guitars. The first few steps were difficult, claws clicking on the floor. Yet he finally was face to face so to speak with the human, he reached up and touched her hand. Miko wrapped her fingers around his one.

"Miko! Stay away from him!"

The loud voice of Wheeljack startled the black and yellow bot, causing him to jump back and hiss. Cheetor could feel the cat , he walked briskly out of the room to hide his shame. Making sure to hit Wheeljack square on the shoulder with his on the way.

"Really Wheeljack? Really… come on man we were gettin' somewhere." Miko huffed at her wrecker friend. Arcee didn't look pleased either, she'd seen Cheetor try out of the corner of her optic. Raphael slouched in his seat, he didn't like it when a fight was about to happen.

"He's not stable yet, so don't get close to him." Wheeljack said.

Miko folded her arms, "Well Mr. Cautious, he ain't gonna get used to us any easier if we keep tip toeing around him. I know this, there used to be a wild cat that would visit my house, and it took me months to get her trust, after that, perfect pet."

"I don't think a house cat is the same thing as a rampaging cheetah." Arcee said, "But she has a point, Jackie, tip toe less and welcome more." she was saved an argument when Optimus walked in and said he needed bots to help him on their next scouting mission.

"I'll take Bumblebee, at least he knows when to tip toe and when to not."

"Can I come?" Jack asked.

Arcee looked at Optimus who nodded. There were so many times the children had just snuck onto missions that she believed Optimus just left them to the discretion of their guardians

"Me too!" Miko jumped on the bandwagon, not having been on a mission in a while.

"While we're on the subject, Raphael?" Arcee sighed.

The youngest smiled shyly and pulled his computer closer, "I think I'll stay and help Ratchet with some stuff." Poor kid was a lot more comfortable in front of a computer, it didn't try to swing at him and if it did misbehave he usually knew how to retaliate. They all left the room but Arcee noticed Cheetor standing just out of site near the door, having listened to everything, he looked at her looking very sad. She smiled and gripped his shoulder, "One step at a time."

"I feel like I just took two steps back."

"Nah, two steps forward, you took one, so did Miko. I'd say she's the bravest of the three, if a bit reckless at times."

"So was she brave or reckless?"

"Brave in this case. The kids have been concerned for you, ya know."

"They don't know me though."

"Neither do we in the long run, these humans are actually quite capable of friendship and love when given the chance." she relaxed a bit when Cheetor took these words in and nodded.

"Be careful out there." he said.

"Ain't I always." she smiled and continued her walk.

"You did let a tree fall on you once." Cheetor danced out of her reach.

The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging around for Cheetor, he'd found a few spots where the sun shown just right through the windows on high ledges. There he could be left alone as he indulged the cat by laying on his back and sun bathing. As he rested, his mind slipped in and out of stasis. Thoughts swaying back and forth to the fields of Africa and to the harsh whine of the hanger lights. His spark pulsed irregularly but strong, a Cybertronian did a steady beat, where as the animal's beat twice before pausing. Had he been a regular two wheeler, this would've been a big problem, but his new spark beat and new body seemed to have finally found peace between each other.

Without a sound, the amber eyed cat strutted through the metal halls. Mouth shut to show he was serious, nose testing the air for something. A shot cracked through the air, then another. This caused the cat to hiss and spit, the metal walls beginning to dissolve from its rage and fear. Cheetor looked at the other version of him. Instead of growling back at it, he sauntered up to him despite the threatening posture. He greeted it like he'd seen cheetahs do on the planes, with a head but and a sniff along the face. The resident brother cheetahs did the same, Nakeeta's children had greeted her the same, Nakeeta greeted him the same. The walls stopped shaking, the cracks receded. The amber eyed cat turned to Cheetor and returned the greeting, neither was an intruder now.

"Cheetor!"

The bot shot to his feet, startled out of his sleep. Down below was Raphael running up to him as fast as his short legs could carry him, "Cheetor! Help!"

A severe stab of emotions hit Cheetor at once, the nights he'd thought death was upon him, Miko reaching out to him, Arcee's kindness through his battles with reintegrating himself with the Autobots. The urge to run, also to fight.

The abnormally big cheetah took a very long breath, acknowledging the traumatic memories and set them aside. Raphael looked genuinely worried, and he'd run to him for whatever reason.

Fighting all instincts, Cheetor jumped off the ledge and spun, transforming in mid air then landing on his feet just as Raphael reached him, "What's up, kid?" he asked, "Where's Ratchet?"

"No time! Come on!" he tugged on Cheetor's leg before running back the way he'd come.

In the bridge room the computers were going nuts, Cheetor recognized it as a scrambling program. He immediately went to work trying to stop the damage from going any further, the more he worked the less power his old memories seemed to work. Besides, Raphael was the gentlest of the humans. Cheetor could never see him hurting even a fly.

"Where's Ratchet?" he asked again when Raphael got up the ladder.

"He told me to watch the comms while he helped with something outside." Raphael tripped over his bag and nearly dropped his glasses, his hands were shaking a bit, "The last transmission I got was that they'd been ambushed! Please Cheetor you gotta help them!"

"I'm not allowed to go anywhere, Raphael you know that."

"There's no time to argue, go help them!" Raphael yanked his computer close and began typing furiously, the bridge burned to life behind them, but its energies were intermittent as if it wasn't receiving the correct information on all nodes, "Hurry!" he begged. Cheetor suddenly understood what was happening.

"Get the bridge back up and running, kid." he turned tail and ran through the bridge as it flickered heavily. The static actually made his skin hurt which was not supposed to happen. Somebot must've found their bridge frequency, a thing that could be rectified and secured but at the moment the most important thing was to make sure the others were safe.

A rush of cool air and the scent of grass filled his nose. Tree mulch sank underneath his weight. The area was deep in the wilds but between a massive forest and planes much like Africa. However the presence of the place was not bold like the animals of Africa that pranced about like kings, it was more subdued, hiding its secrets amidst the trees and bushes. Cheetor decided to abide by this sense and reverted to his four footed form. The landscape allowing for him to blend into their shadows.

It wasn't difficult to find the battle, the Decepticons weren't exactly quiet and the smoke from the burning forest wasn't exactly subtle.

A horrible scream caused Cheetor to pause in his stalk, he hadn't heard the call since he'd been back on Cyertron. It was an Insecticon. At least three of them were keeping their prey cornered in a deep crevice carved out by a river long since dried up. The bugs were trying to dig into the rock but were pushed back by a flurry of rounds.

"Come on Arcee, do you think any Energon on this planet is for an Autobot?" a deep smooth voice slipped through the air. Cheetor crouched low, his stomach touching the ground as a shadow passed over him through the trees. He suddenly wasn't sure why he'd been worried about the Autobots not accepting him. This Decepticon was… part bug.

"Well, it certainly isn't for a rouge Decepticon." Arcee's voice echoed against the rock. Bumblebee had been struck hard and was still recovering.

The femme transformed into a sort of biped form and glanced down the crevice, one she could easily trap them in her web, but her optics fell on a few humans, one she recognized as Jack. She smiled and backed away from the crevice, "You know Arcee, you certainly have a knack for helping yourself suffer." she reached for one of the burning branches.

Arcee knelt next to Bumblebee in the tight space, his armor was heavily dented in several places but he was functional, looking more alert than a few minutes ago. The beetle like Insecticons had nabbed him first, tossing him around like he was yesterday's scrap metal. It wasn't their brightest idea for cover, but Arcee had needed to keep the enemies on one side for easy defense. Her optics widened when a bundle of burning brush was tossed into their cave. Jack yelped and scrambled out of the way and under Bumblebee's protective arm, pulling Miko with him. The heat didn't bother the Autobots, but the smoke immediately filled the lunges of their humans and they began to cough. There just wasn't enough room for the smoke to fly skyward, it rolled back onto the group. Arcee reached for the branches to stamp them out but jumped back when Blackarachnia's webbing splattered across the floor, flames leaping to feast on the new material. The webbing bubbled and hissed from the heat and melted all across the floor. It was then that Arcee happened to look past the Insecticons and see a very familiar shape through the flames.

"Hold on you two!" she exclaimed.

Blackarachnia was handed another branch by her follower and tossed it in. A third one was presented but she stopped when she heard a growl. The femme turned around to see a very large cat, yellow like the grass with sleek spots all across his fur. Blue eyes shimmering with light as he glared at her, teeth bared.

"Hmm… go away kitty… if this is your den it's got new permanent occupants." her attention was brought to the cat again when he snarled and stomped the ground in front of him, "Oh go kill him." she gestured to one of her minions who rattled his jaws. The cat stomped the ground again, this time joined with the sound of twisting cogs and refitting nanytes as he pushed himself back onto his hind feet.

This act drew Blackarachnia's attention fully, she left the smoking hole to her minions and approached Cheetor.

"My my, aren't you a beautiful specimen." she said as she started crab walking with all of her legs in an ever tightening circle, "I never thought an Autobot would fathom looking at the animals for an alternate form."

"I didn't really have a choice in the matter. But I've made my peace with the beast." Cheetor eyed her curiously, but his tail twitched with excitement, muscles tightening around his pistons and bone structure.

"Oh, the beast doesn't know what peace is."

"Maybe your beast doesn't, arachnids don't tend to care about anything but survival of themselves." he folded his arms, images of Nakeeta taking on a full grown lion who'd taken an interest in her cubs.

"I think that suits me perfectly. You can't tell me that certain traits of the animal doesn't enhance your abilities to fight, your ability to sense the world around you. We beast machines can hide and stalk in ways no ordinary Transformer could." she noticed his eyes traveling across her frame and she smiled, "Do you like what you see?" she asked.

Cheetor looked up at her face, "Sorry, you're too much leg for my taste." he drew his blades and started matching her pace, "Maybe in another life I might your find nasty disposition for murder attractive, but not in this one."

"That's not nice to say on a first date." the spider hissed.

"Oh I didn't catch your name, what was it?"

"Blackarachnia."

"Cheetor. Nice to meet you." he stopped with the drones directly behind him, "You've been on this planet awhile I assume, do you know what cats do when they find a bug that interest them?" he listened to the footsteps of the others get closer. Their presence looming over his shoulders.

"No, I didn't find them interesting enough to watch until now." she smiled coldly, all of her poisonous needle sharp teeth glinting in the light.

"Hmm… maybe you should've."

"And why's that." she stopped her pacing, front legs raised ready to fight.

"Because when a bug is interesting… they eat them!" he thrust his blades back catching two of the drones right between their armored plating underneath their chins. Energon splattered all over Cheetor's arms and legs. Blaster fire sang through the air as Bumblebee took out the third drown, he squealed at Arcee who was in her alt mode with Jack and Miko holding tightly to her back. Dirt went flying as her gears kicked into overdrive, she flew out of the smoke filled crevice using the fallen drone as a jumping point since their wings folded made a perfect ramp.

Blackarachnia didn't have time to be upset her prey escaped, a snarling ball of fury came flying at her. He matched her blow for blow, exceeding even Arcee's passion for speed. Within the first few strikes his blades disconnected two of her legs which caused a flare of rage erupt in her spark as pain registered.

Intricate patterns of web flew through the air but Cheetor dodged them easily, one blade getting caught in the mess. The autobot rolled to all four, growling a nasty threat to the insecticon before rushing toward her again. She knocked his other blade out of his hand but that didn't slow him down. Blackarachnia yelped in fright for once as he landed right on top of her.

Claws and teeth ripped into her armor quickly stripping the protective casings. One hand slammed her head down, his jaws clamping down around her neck as he tried to rip out the main energon lines. The spider hissed deep from her air recyclers and rolled, transforming into her biped mode so her remaining limbs could have more freedom to bend.

Cheetor screamed something between his regular voice and the cat as several razor sharp feet cut open his still healing surgical wounds. He leaped out of her grasp and scrambled back, energon spilling all over the ground.

There was a pulsing moment of silence, bitter energon slipping from the Autobot's mouth as he growled at his prey, eye brimming with light and intent.

The Insecticon tried to stand up, her body shaking from the effort to get the speedy Autobot off of her. She touched her tender neck struts and when she pulled her hand away energon slipped down her fingers, "Well aren't we a pair. I don't think Arcee is capable of this much destruction and she has the history for it." From her hips down her armor was ravaged and useless, liquid dripping at an alarming rate, also her humanoid right arm wouldn't be very useful in defense either.

He gave a toothy grin, "It's not her style, her spark is too pure to do it."

"So are you saying you're the beast and she's the beauty."

Cheetor chuckled as he stood up, his hand not enough to hold in the energon. His vision was getting blurry, "Not at all. She simply does what she must, sometimes what her spark demands isn't always the right thing. Much like when the beast demands something of me, we are all just struggling to not lose ourselves in the chaos."

"Hmm, cute." Blackarachnia's eyes glowed as she reached out to the swarm standing by in the mountains, "I'd love a second date, Cheetor, but I-." her sentence was cut short by her screaming in agony. Arcee walked out of the woods having put her charge's safely away, her arm canons primed on the thorn of her life. The spider leaped out of the way and scrambled over the boulders and out of the way, blood trailing in her wake.

Arcee's urge to chase the spider was very strong, the memories bubbling up in a near uncontrollable wave. However when she saw Cheetor fall to his knees, the rage simmered down to fear.

"Cheetor!" she cried out.

As she reached his side, Bumblebee stumbled out of the crevice finally having regained his strength. He warbled plaintively at the sight of his new comrade. The young scout checked the comms to see if they were still scrambled and finally connected, Raphael answered, saying that help was on the way.

Arcee made Cheetor lay down, she had a few metal patches to deal with wounds but with the beast bot's awkward combination of flexible armor and skin the sheets didn't work very well at stopping the flow. She didn't see Miko and Jack run up to the battle site, soot and dirt caked against their skin as the fire turned into a blaze around the dried up riverbed. Miko tried to run up to the Transformers but Jack held her back, trying to keep her from stepping into the poisonous energon.

"Cheetor, no!" Miko cried.

He lay against Arcee's arm, his breathing shallow. The cat bot wondered when the sun had gone down it was just very dark in his vision. His eyes glanced up at Arcee who was trembling. Transformers didn't cry, but the pain lacing the lines of her face and screaming from the depths of her optics made his spark ache.

"Don't do this… Cheetor…." she begged.

"Hey… it's ok." he reached up with his energy soaked hand and went to touch her face but the darkness rushed past his consciousness.

There was just something wonderful about the feeling of going fast. The rush of the scenery long past, the beat of your blood as it fueled your legs or wheels, the smell of the grass as it made way for your presence, the wind howling in joy against your ears. It was just you and your spark.

Occasionally the spark was joined with another, never speaking to the other. Just understanding. There was no running away, there was just existing. Allowing troubles to hurt, the happiness to flower, and the peace to settle the times of chaos. There was no escaping, simply accepting the waves of your life.

Arcee burned rubber against the concrete and flew into the distance. Eventually the road stopped and dirt parted from her presence as she challenged the empty Nevadan desert.

Accepting the truth, that things like loneliness, sadness, anger and rage will always be apart of you. It was a matter of if you let it rule you. Like if you were fighting another living being inside your head, it would never go away, it would never back down and it would always win. However, if you allowed these things inside your heart, to live next to the things you hold dear, then the beast that resides in all living things would not struggle against you.

The setting sun painted the clouds red, columns of rain sailed through the air and lightning poured out in sheets. The motorcycle reared up on her rear wheel, engine roaring back. The air sparked and cracked open into a space bridge in front of of the femme who didn't hesitate in entering the void.

Where the sun was setting on one part of life, the other was rising and blessing the land with color and warmth. Her tires hit the soft dirt and she rolled into her biped form and didn't stop. The scout used to go fast to try and leave her loneliness behind. She recalled Cheetor mentioning running for hours on end, from one side of the planes to the other trying to find the peace that his mind so demanded. Wandering the planes he said had been like he was searching his own spark. The trauma of the crash took time to unfold, and alone it took a very long time especially with the cat now laced with his own Cybertronian DNA.

A herd of impala scattered out of Arcee's way as she leaped out of the bushes and over a dried up creek. Her frame graced the top of the hill as wind swept up the leaves of the trees. She halted for a moment, allowing her systems to cool down.

It certainly was a picture to behold, despite the destruction of their home, this one still bubbled with life that danced across the land. That was something to be proud of, at least she thought.

Her optics fell on Optimus Prime who was standing not far away, ever the guardian. The Autobots had not been snuffed out, they still stood tall and proud, ready to defend those less fortunate than them. Close by, Ratchet was examining poor Cheetor. After spending months in the CR chamber he'd requested coming back home to calm his nightmares down. Arcee also speculated that secretly, he wanted to know how Nakeeta was doing. The said big cat was currently laying down near a flowering bush, mouth closed to show her serious face as a new generation danced around Miko, Jack and Raphael, not sure whether they should trust the two legged ones. The children did a lot of staring at each other. June was standing next to Ratchet, still giving him tips on how to treat the flesh like tendencies of Cheetor's armor.

Cheetor hid the pain in his face as best he could, he looked up at Arcee and smiled despite his quivering ears giving away how he really felt. The light glimmered across her newly polished armor as she walked next to Optimus, telling him that all had been clear on her patrol. It was nice to see a bit of peace in her optics. When they'd first met, she seemed to be struggling with something as he struggled. The cat still had disputes with Cheetor, but instead of fighting it, Cheetor allowed it to throw its fits in his mind instead of trying to snuff the cat out. It occasionally manifested itself as trembling when he was awake, or nightmares when he wasn't. The Autobot simply allowed the cat to speak its piece because pure emotion was all it knew how to speak.

The other Autobots seemed to sweep away the fact that he wasn't going to get rid of his beast mode. They simply accepted him for who he was. Even Wheeljack, who still openly showed his distaste for Cheetor, took a moment when no one was around to apologize and shake Cheetor's hand when he'd come concious.

"Alright, Cheetor, try going to beast mode and WALK around. No running for a while." June said with a firm tone. She cringed when he yelped in pain, but kept going through his transformation. The human gave Cheetor one last checkover to make sure there was no fresh bleeding from the surgeries before sending him on his way. Nakeeta watched this scene unfold and stood up, calling to her kits to follow. They joined Cheetor's side as he ascended the hill tenderly, the female cat purring at his presence. She may not speak words, but she remembered, she remembered all the times Cheetor saved her and allowed her to grow old and wise amidst their brethren.

Having finished her brief, Arcee joined Cheetor, surprised that Nakeeta didn't shy away from her. The two cubs chirped happily as they chased their reflection on her legs. They walked all the way to the top of the hill that looked out over the planes. This was the spot Cheetor chose to rest, walking up the hill had been enough to tire him out. Arcee simply kept an optic out for any of the Decepticons that lingered in the area. Only looking down when one of the babies tried to climb her knee spike, ultimately scratching her brand new finish. Her reaction was simply to sigh and roll her optics. Cheetor purred in amusement as he lay down to regain his strength. He leaned against Arcee, closing his eyes for the moment.

Peace, it was within everyone's grasp. You simply had to allow it to approach you.

**Did I get you crying? Good, feel the feels. As far as where this fic is going I'm going to leave it open because even though I do not have anymore ideas at the moment, that doesn't mean I might not have another one in the future. Thank you for reading this adventure with me! :) Glad you enjoyed! Cheers!**


	6. To Freedom They Plea

**'Nother bunny hoppin' around in my head. **

Cheetor's integration with Team Prime had been quite a rough road. The behavioral adjustment alone for the young Autobot was never exact, and never quite finished. Ratchet had initially pressed him for an exact timeframe but eventually realized that being essentially half organic (or at least replicated), it would take time. The biggest concern for the group was Cheetor's timid behavior around the humans.

When he was in his biped mode, the young scout got along well with the children and the adults alike nowadays. However in his beast mode which he strolled around in quite often, his traumatic memories were still quite strong. Ratchet had a sneaking suspicion that Cheetor did this on purpose, he'd stumbled upon Cheetor in his beast mode sitting next to Miko once, who'd been jabbering about some new rock band she'd found. The cat had looked very nervous, mouth closed, ears twitching at every sound, his muscles tense, head low as if he were ready to run. But his eyes had been on Miko, listening to what she had to say. Unfortunately he suddenly noticed Ratchet's presence and hissed before trotting off to be alone. The cat certainly had a temperament.

The big cat was actually just returning from his hard run that he did almost every day. Ever since Ratchet had cleared him for dynamic movement he'd wasted no time in going for it. He'd switch up where he ran, whether it be in his animal form's native home or the deserts of southern Nevada. Till he was completely recovered he was escorted so he kept his runs short so as, in his eyes, not waste the others time. However bots like Smokescreen, Bumblebee and Arcee enjoyed the spirited chase as opposed to the heavier set Autobots who preferred to pick a high cliff and just watch. Today it was Smokescreen that returned with Cheetor, it also appeared as if he'd kissed the dirt with his face. It seemed to be a secret game with the feline Autobot, or perhaps he was testing just exactly what he could take down in his animal form. While blistering fast, the cheetah wasn't built for power so Cheetor had to utilize his energy very wisely rather than just swing wildly like say, Bulkhead.

"Let me guess… he turned his back." Arcee chuckled from where she sat with Jack who was doing some homework, or trying to at least. Cheetor made a sound that sounded like a cross between a yip and a purr.

"Oh shut up." Smokescreen snorted while pulling a rock from between his helmet and his softer undershell.

"I didn't say anything." Cheetor said innocently when he finally transformed. He gimped for a step before regaining his composer. The Autobot had probably pushed himself just a tad much today but it had felt so good to race the wind across the desert. The blue and yellow scout huffed but there was a smile on his face, despite bruised pride Smokescreen had always been a good sport.

Cheetor strolled over to the corner that seemed to be designated specifically for the children, "Hey, where's Miko?" he asked.

"Detention again." Jack said from behind his book, "I think she might also get a nasty phone call from her parents soon."

"This detention thing… is a punishment? For what?"

"For breaking the rules, knowing Miko, she probably was either texting or falling asleep or listening to music when she shouldn't be." Arcee said.

"What's wrong with a good nap?" Cheetor grinned.

"You're supposed to be learning at school, not napping." Raphael smiled.

"Says kid genius!" Jack huffed and snapped his book closed, "I need a break, all this Algebra is making my brain melt."

"Jack don't take too long a break or you won't finish!" Arcee warned.

"Just getting a snack other Mom." the young man sighed.

Cheetor found the femme's motherly approach to the children quite fascinating. Not even their own species and yet they were treated with such care. The modern day structure was loosely like their own, and he used the term loosely quite delicately. For their time the humans were doing fantastic technology and knowledge wise. The more Cheetor related to them the less fidgety the cat got, it seemed that if it sensed a threat or something it didn't understand that could be a threat it got nervous almost to the point where Cheetor would start shaking. Humans were on the top list of making him nervous, but Cheetor always reminded himself of his promise to Arcee and also to not judge a holo-cube by its title.

Cheetor took this opportunity for a cat nap, but instead of finding his usual roost in the warehouse he chose to lay down in the human area just in front of the TV. Arcee looked at him with a bit of concern as he reverted to his beast mode. The cat turned in one circle, then another before plopping down on his side. He pulled his face back slightly exposing his teeth as the scent of humans was especially strong here. Cheetor cycled his air a few times to allow his quick beating spark to calm down.

Arcee was about to relax but she heard a chair squeak as Raphael unplugged his laptop. The youngest walked right up to Cheetor who now had his mouth closed and was watching him closely, tip of his tail twitching slightly.

"May I?" he asked as he knelt next to the bigger than average cat. Cheetor stared at the child, nose twitching as if he was considering something. Then he just looked away, one ear twitching and the serious look leaving his face. Raphael sat down and leaned back against the Autobot, to Arcee's surprise Cheetor began purring after a few minutes. His eyes half closed and his demeanor relaxed.

Over the past nine months getting Cheetor to stay in the same room for longer than a few minutes had been painful. Although gradually he remained longer and longer, touching had been out of the question. In robot form he was more or less fine, the cat didn't seem to have as strong a grip the more he made it realize that this concrete jungle wasn't going to kill it. Also in this time Cheetor had discovered new ways to make his form as efficient as possible, like when he went to robot form he could sacrifice some speed by melding the nanytes that made up his skin like cover into sleek metal plates all along his body. He couldn't maintain this defensive mode for long as it seemed he needed to consciously keep it in place, but the more he practiced the easier it got. Raphael was the bravest though, to sit essentially where he could be ripped to shreds.

Arcee meant to get up and do some reports that Ultra Magnus wanted done but she wanted to enjoy this moment of peace that seemed to descend upon them. No fear of death, no fear of chaos, just simply existing in the moment.

The moment was ruined when Cheetor jumped to his feet, sending Raphael plopping onto his back with a thud.

"Cheetor?" Arcee watched him stare at something down the hall. The beast bot stalked past the computers and slinked around a few boxes before he stepped over whatever he'd seen. Cheetor crouched low and shifted his paws from one to another, preparing for the strike. Arcee stood up so she could see better just as Cheetor pounced something. However when he lifted his paw he didn't have what he wanted. The Autobot straightened up, growling in confusion. Then without warning chased something that streaked across the wall.

Arcee could not believe it.

It was a pen laser.

She looked around to find Jack on the catwalk above trying to not laugh out loud, "Jack!" she growled.

The adolescent couldn't hold it in any longer, "I can't believed it worked! I gotta tell Miko this."

"Nope! No you don't!" Cheetor jumped mid transformation and clung to the walkway, reaching for Jack and catching him. He made sure he wasn't causing the boy discomfort before placing him down near Raphael, "Please, Jack, don't encourage my wild side. It's difficult enough. Although that… was pretty funny." Cheetor chuckled, although his ears were flat with embarrassment. Miko had shown him more than enough 'funny' cat videos on the internet, Cheetor had promised himself he wouldn't be THAT cat… but… the cat was a cat. And he lived with it. He looked up at Arcee who was bless her spark, trying to be serious but her optics sparkled with amusement. This just made him feel all the more embarrassed so he decided he could escape this by leaving the room.

"Jack… that was mean. He's an Autobot, not a house pet." Arcee scolded her charge gently.

"He's an Autobot that tried to copy an animal, I just wanted to see if it would work is all."

"I know you meant to be funny but he's been through enough without suffering the primitive impulses of his new body around his fellows." Arcee tapped him softly on top of the head.

"Right… sorry." Jack rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the floor.

"Come on let's get you guys home, we have some work to do." Arcee transformed on the lower deck and waited for the boys to grab their bags and helmets before taking off with them on her sit.

Cheetor remained hidden on the compound till the next day when the kids returned. Jack offered an apology and Cheetor accepted, they ended up playing one of Raphael's racing games with Bumblebee.

"Hey, where's Miko? Is she with Bulkhead?"

"Uh no actually, she didn't even show up for pick up at school." Jack said after he lost a race. He tossed the control down to take a break.

"She's grounded." said Raphael from his place next to Ratchet.

"What's grounded mean? She doesn't fly obviously…" Cheetor said.

"She flew right into trouble when she got in detention for the third time this month." Raphael sighed, "So her host parents grounded her, and said she has to call her real parents and explain why she's getting into so much trouble." the young computer wiz held up his phone to show a rather long text from Miko.

"Yeesh… they're like what, sixteen hours ahead? That's going to be a pleasant phone call."

Bumblebee squeaked his dismay.

Cheetor had had this explained once, Miko wasn't even a locally born citizen in the territory of the US. She was simply here as a guest from another culture, a very strict culture it sounded like. One that didn't seem to suit her free spirit.

"What's the worst that could happen?" he asked.

"She could get sent home, which would be an embarrassment to her parents since she'd be coming back on bad terms." Bulkhead clunked on into the room rubbing his helm with an exasperated look on his face, "I don't know what to tell her, she won't listen every time I tell her it's not hard to follow a few rules."

"Telling Miko to follow rules is like telling a rock it needs to sprout a flower." Ratchet said without looking up from his computer.

Cheetor looked up at the big wrecker, "Bulkhead, do you know why exactly she's been acting up?"

"How should I know she's always been this way."

"Maybe you should ask her."

"Doesn't matter if I do ask her she won't say anything… ugh I'm going to go for a drive." Bulkhead huffed his way out of the room.

Cheetor wasn't sure what to make of the situation, Miko had shown she was a bit rambunctious… and loud but she had a kind spark…. or heart whatever the humans called it. However he never saw her as completely irresponsible. She didn't seem to TRY and get her fellows in trouble, just herself. She enjoyed the thrill of adventure and there was nothing shameful of that. The Autobot suddenly felt that a piece of this puzzle was missing and that piece was causing all parties grief. The group had been very patient with his ailments that he felt the need to return the favor. Stress for stress.

The big cat wasn't allowed to go near the city since he was obviously not a very good blend with the local animals or vehicles, so he waited for Jack and Raphael to be taken home. Bumblebee was on curb duty today, which made Cheetor's job of sneaking out of the compound a lot easier as the bot tended to lean toward the twilight hours before leaving. The bot preferred to interact with the humans in his biped form and Cheetor didn't blame him, sitting still on your frame for hours was quite tiring.

The Nevada sunset was brilliant and warm, but also short lived. It was like a silent goodbye to the parched land, reminding it that it would be back soon and to not forget it. The heat would linger long past midnight today. Cheetor slinked past the human guards easily and waited till Bee was a tad ahead of him before taking a route offset from the highway since humans uncleared might see him. He'd taken time to study the road maps on the internet earlier to help him navigate, plus GPS was nice.

Bumblebee vanished off the radar as all Autobots did when venturing out alone, their only comms being their emergency beacon when activated. Streaming across the hard desert floor and leaping over the occasional spiny tree, Cheetor made good time to Jasper. He had to slow down only once to cool off his systems but he kept a brisk trot on so he wouldn't lose too much ground. That was one thing he missed of his old body, despite the upgrades he'd given to the cheetah it was still an inefficient design compared to a vehicle. Oh well.

The sun had vanished behind the mountains by now, offering Cheetor the blessing of darkness. While he wasn't the master of it like the lions he managed to stay out of trouble. The city was small compared to say, Las Vegas that he'd seen on a few TV shows. So most of the populous had gone to sleep. Cheetor felt a thrill pulse through his spark at seeing the more modern society of this continent. Or perhaps it was more the thrill of sneaking around when he wasn't supposed to.

He paused at the edge of an unlit road and sniffed the pavement. It was unfamiliar to his form and very odd under his foot pads. The ground rumbled slightly and Cheetor dodged behind a cluster of trash cans that were harsh to the nose. Bumblebee's engine was not quiet, to the ears or the objects it reverberated through. The cat popped quietly out of his hiding spot and followed the camero all the way to Raphael's house.

The young boy jumped out, patting Bumblebee's mirror, "Do you think you could check on Miko later? She didn't answer me or Jack's texts today." the car warbled back, "Thanks, Bee." Raphael smiled, shutting his door and running up to his door where a loud chorus of brothers and sisters greeted him. Bumblebee pulled back and just out of site of the house and settled on his wheels as comfortably as he could. For a moment he thought he heard the scrape of claws across the concrete but the neighborhood cat then jumped on his hood for his usual evening nap. Bee didn't mind so much.

In the mean time Cheetor slipped past his fellow Autobot and down the street, Miko lived just around the corner if the maps were correct. He tested the air the closer he got to the house and the cells in his nose registered the humans scent easily. It wasn't long before he found the house, unfortunately he startled a coyote digging in their trash. The dogs yipped and barked at him, which he in turn swiped at the nearest one and hissed, tail bushing up in his own surprise. The coyotes ran for their lives, never having dealt with such a predator before.

A light on the porch came on, Cheetor sprinted to the side of the house just in time to avoid being seen.

"What is it?" it was a female voice.

"Those damn coyotes again, gonna have to call pest control tomorrow." this was a male. Must be the host parents.

"Where's Miko?" asked the female.

"In her room, she's video chatting with her parents."

The door slammed shut.

Cheetor cycled a gulp of air before moving on, he had to transform to unlock the side gate without making a ruckus, he was afraid if he jumped someone would hear his landing. It was amazing how the lack of trees and grass made it so quiet. In the backyard he returned to beast mode and sniffed around till he found the window with the strongest scent. He didn't even need that to actually figure out it was Miko's room, she was speaking loud enough. It took Cheetor a moment to realize she wasn't speaking English but Japanese. Another pair of voices cut her off and spoke with authority. The transformer could translate what he was hearing, but he felt like this was a very private argument if even Bulkhead didn't know. Well then what was he here for if she wouldn't share it with her best friend?

Huffing loudly, Cheetor settled down onto the concrete just underneath Miko's window. On top of their rather one sided discussion, he heard mice skittering along the fence line, bugs chirping in the trees. A delicate but deadly looking black widow braved coming out of her hole to examine her web. A house cat on its nightly patrol poked its head under the fence, saw Cheetor and fled.

An odd snorting noise caught Cheetor's attention. There was a lack of words now, and just Miko making odd… sniffing sounds. Was she choking?

The big cat stood up on his hind legs and placed his paws on the window sill. Inside the room was decked out with posters from rock bands, an amp and electric guitar lay carefully in one corner. Books were strewn all over the floor as if she'd taken her book bag and dumped everything there. Miko was curled up on her bed with her back to him, shuddering uncontrollably. Cheetor chirped, scratching at the window cautiously. He was never quite sure with human materials.

Miko sat up, rubbing something from her… awfully red eyes. Her nose was runny and red as well. Cheetor chirped again. It wasn't a sound he used often, most of the time he'd only ever heard Nakeeta use it to summon her cubs or for her cubs to summon her. He'd heard the males use it to check on each other after a pretty bad hunt. The young human finally saw him in the shadows and walked over to the window to open it.

"Ch-Cheetor? *sniff* What are you d-doing here." she picked a floppy looking white thing from a box and essentially honked into it, making her face even more red. The cat tilted his head, unsure of what exactly was happening. Obviously she was stressed, so he stretched up a bit further and placed a big paw on her shoulder.

"Hang on." Miko rubbed a bit of liquid from her eyes before grabbing her coat and shoes. She switched the lamp off and slipped out of her window, "Come on, I can't stand it in here one more minute." she didn't even bother shutting it, just went off into the darkness with Cheetor close behind.

They walked for a long while, the silence of the setting sun giving way to the careful skitters of the night time creatures. Occasionally Miko would shudder, and her eyes would refresh their red color and liquid would leak from them. The internet told Cheetor this was crying, a form relief to the human body when high amounts of certain hormones were released, it didn't seem to be working though. They stopped in one of the city funded parks, here grass and trees slurped thirstily from the bubbling water system. Cheetor felt a bit more comfortable with these scents despite the fertilizer. The rubber felt weird but it didn't send itchy waves through his skin. Miko found a swing and plopped down in it, hanging her head. Cheetor didn't like this silent version of Miko, it made his spark hurt that she was in this much pain and didn't share it with them.

"They just don't get it."

His ears perked up.

"Stupid grown ups just don't get it! They don't understand that all I want is to have a little fun, a bit of freedom maybe? All they want to do is punish me for the smallest things! No… you can't listen to music in a class that puts you to sleep otherwise… no… you can't be out late we're having a stupid family dinner… no Miko if you keep getting in trouble you can't come back to America next year. I wasn't even cheating the teacher just thought I was cheating! I don't cheat!" Miko stomped her foot, sending a cockroach flying. Cheetor was about to transform and say something but she continued, "Why can't grown ups be like you guys? You guys don't ground me whenever I break a rule! I mean, I know when I can't handle something…. most of the time… but that's not the point! You guys have a lot of freedom! Except when Ultra Magnus is around but he's lightened up a bit. " she gripped the chains of the swing and grunted in frustration, "Bulkhead is starting to sound like my host parents too, it's making me mad! I'm not getting into trouble on purpose! If only school wasn't so boring! Jack and Raphael get all the cookies cuz they're 'good little boys'," she quoted with her fingers, "They live too safely and that's just not my way! I want action! Is that so much to ask?"

Cheetor wasn't sure where she was going with this. Perhaps this was like when a femme needed to vent and the best you could do was shut up and listen?

"My parents will never get it… I don't WANT to become a proper business person. That's so boring! I don't want to be old and stuck like they are. I can't believe they said they're going to keep me at home next year if I can't get my grades up… that is so unfair! Can you believe it?!" she paused and shuddered again, tears streaming down her face.

In these moments of rest, Cheetor processed what she was saying and suddenly found some parallels in his own life. They had been very painful growing points for him. He glanced around but decided there were too many street lamps illuminating the area for him to transform.

Miko looked up when her phone buzzed, she pulled it out and saw that it was Cheetor… calling her. The cat settled down on his belly, a bit of a satisfied smile on his face.

She snorted a bit with laughter despite her fowl mood, she flipped open her phone, "Yes… Cheetor?"

_"So you're frustrated that people especially your parents don't understand your free spirit huh?"_

It was a bit odd to hear his disembodied voice when he was laying right in front of her next to the play gym for cover.

"Um… yeah.

_"And you think everyone is trying to hold you back."_

She nodded.

_"What if their restrictions is the only way they know how to show they care for you?"_

Miko raised an eyebrow at him, "What?"

Cheetor flicked a roach off of his paw, _"I had a mentor once, several in fact because I didn't have my parental units around. They'd died some time ago. I… I don't think I was angry all the time, but I certainly felt like my friends were holding me back every time I couldn't go on a mission. It wasn't till I was fully upgraded and armored did I realize how being impatient might have ruined me. It certainly ruined me coming here."_

"I don't get it." Miko rubbed her nose on her sleeve.

He tried to think of it another way without using Bulkhead's words since he was obviously a trigger for her at the moment, _"You are impatient for your freedom, but freedom comes at a cost, and if you don't show your families that you can handle the freedom, then they don't have peace of mind and spark… er… heart."_

"What would freedom cost? It's just… freedom."

There was a damn itch on his ear so he scratched it, _"Well, for example when I was granted the freedom to scout alone… I was exactly that… alone. My friends could be clicks away and not get to me in time if I was ambushed. You could run away into freedom, and your family could or could not be able to help you. All these… restrictions as you call them… the not listening to music in class, the not falling asleep… getting good grades…. think of them as challenges that can show your families that despite your free spirit, you're actually responsible. Then they can have peace of mind, and eventually their grip will lesson."_

Miko looked at the ground, drawing a circle with the tip of her boot.

_"Bulkhead speaks highly of you, all of the Autobots do in fact. Despite your… tendency to not follow rules you've proved to them you can handle yourself, and make responsible decisions. Why not buck up and show your human family that you actually can do it. They just want the best for you it seems."_

She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face again.

He whimpered a bit in his throat, _"Or I could be blabbing nothing and just be making you more angry." _

Miko simply twisted herself back and forth in place, phone still stuck to her ear and eyes back on the ground. The silence was getting long and uncomfortable for Cheetor.

"I hope my parents don't hate me… I wasn't very… polite to them. I don't want them to kick me to the curb." Miko seemed worried about more than just her freedom now.

_"The spark sometimes says some things it doesn't mean in fits of pain."_ Cheetor transformed and walked over next to her. He gently pushed her shoulder to get her swinging back and forth, "Just, show them you can handle freedom. You may not end up as they want you to, and it may be frustrating for you, but if they truly love you then it shouldn't matter." he gave her another push. She looked up at him and managed to smile despite her trembling cheeks.

A tumbleweed danced across the playground, a light flickered against the sidewalk.

Despite being a completely different species with different expectations, Cheetor didn't see the struggles as that much different. He remembered following his fellow Autobots back on Cybertron before he'd been ready to fight. It had nearly got him killed, the anger that they expressed he later understood as their love for him. They didn't want harm to come to him especially being one of the last Autobots to be born, but at the same time they could not hide him from the threats of life forever if they wanted him to be able to defend himself. Whether it be winning an argument or winning a battle, almost all of life's lessons were painful. He only hoped Miko could understand this. She was young, all of them were, in comparison Cheetor was (despite being hundreds of years old in human terms) was barely in his late twenties if you wanted to say it like that to Cybertronian years. Yet the final generations of Cybertron had had to live hard in their early years as the war was at its crescendo and so they were forced to learn fast. Despite Miko's determination, she and her companions had led soft lives. Cheetor was almost jealous.

Her phone buzzed.

Miko wiped her nose again and answered, "Hi Bee. No I'm fine… just went for a walk. Well my host parents can be worried if they….. I'll call them. Thanks Bee." she took a deep breath muttering something in Japanese as she dialed another number, "Hey, Father." she jumped off the swing and touched Cheetor's arm, "Sorry… I was just very upset. I'm at the park over by 5th street. No no you don't have to come get me I'll walk back. I'm sorry. Ok, I'll see you in a bit." she took a deep breath and looked up at Cheetor, "Wanna come with?"

"I'll escort a femme home." he bowed, making Miko laugh as he reverted back to his beast mode. Miko placed a hand on his back just between his shoulder blades and kept it there till they got home. Cheetor sat down just in the shadows at the corner of the house he was caught off guard when Miko grabbed his head and scratched him behind the ears. His skin shivered but not in fear. He couldn't help but purr very loudly as she got some of the places he couldn't get. Then he growled softly and shook her off, whining.

"Awww come on… if you chase a laser you can enjoy a bit of a scratch." she giggled when his ears drooped and he whined again, "Yes Jack told me about it." she gave him one last pet before running to the front porch where she was greeted by her host parents. The female hugged her close and the male whom Miko called 'Father' expressed relief. Cheetor was glad for this soft greeting. For her age, Miko was dealing with a lot especially with a difference in cultures. The older she got, even with parents as restrictive as her Japanese ones, the more freedom would be given to her and she would be shoved upon her. He had confidence she would thrive in it. The big cat trotted down the street with the base in mind.

It was interesting to Cheetor how restricting love could be, one could be so worried about harm or bad times befalling their beloved and harm them with protection, but give too much at the beginning and all sides would suffer as the loved one stumbled around in the darkness. It was a fine balance that not everyone had. He paused and looked back at the house before going on his way.

Bumblebee bleeped at him in distress, causing the neighborhood cat to yowl in surprise and run away. Cheetor simply grinned at him before running off into the darkness.

They didn't see Miko for the next week still being grounded as she was. However Bulkhead returned one day from curb duty and seemed pleasantly surprised that Miko had opened up to him about her problems. Cheetor sensed it went a little deeper than what Miko had told him but he wasn't one to pry if someone wasn't willing to share. He simply blended into the background, a willing ear for those who found their loved ones trying but not knowing how to help.

Arcee found Cheetor on his favorite perch in the sun, she folded her arms and leaned against the wall underneath him, "You're certainly better with words than I am."

He transformed but remained where he was, lacing his fingers behind his head, "What do you mean?"

"I harm before I heal is all I'm saying."

"No, you just care… a lot… and that can be intimidating to some."

"Or most." Arcee recalled driving Smokescreen away and Bumblebee catching her in the middle of almost murdering Starscream, "Not just anyone can get through to Miko's soft spots."

"Don't know what you mean… I've been either here or there, but not in town." Cheetor smiled.

Arcee reached up and pinched his dangling tail which got a jump and a growl from him, "Whether or whether not you were in town, thank you. Bulkhead was really stressing about Miko lately. Poor mech I wouldn't want to see him dealing with an actual girlfriend."

"Ah he'd be fine." Cheetor chuckled, his tail still hurt though. Arcee didn't seem to believe him but she said nothing else on the matter.

**Hope y'all enjoyed that with me! I know there's not much Arcee Cheetor interaction but I wanted to have a bit of interaction between him and the human portion of the team. Who knows, might get another plot bunny doin' the hops again later. :) Cheers guys!**


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